Microsoft Excel Data Visualization with Charts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What chart type is best for showing trends over continuous time?
- Pie chart
- Line chart (Correct answer)
- Treemap
- Doughnut chart
Correct answer: Line chart
Line charts connect data points across time intervals to show trends.
Best practices: time on X-axis, limit to 4-5 lines, consistent intervals, start Y-axis at zero.
Question 2: When should you use a treemap instead of a pie chart?
- Data has negative values
- Hierarchical data with many categories (Correct answer)
- Comparing exactly two values
- Time-based trends
Correct answer: Hierarchical data with many categories
Treemaps use nested rectangles to show hierarchy and proportion with many categories.
Advantages: handles dozens of categories, shows hierarchy through nesting, uses space efficiently, and size differences are easier to compare.
Question 3: What does the 'Gap Width' setting control in bar/column charts?
- Space between chart and border
- Space between bars or columns (Correct answer)
- Width of the legend
- Distance between axis labels
Correct answer: Space between bars or columns
Gap Width controls spacing between bars, expressed as a percentage of bar width.
0% means bars touch, 150% (default) means gap is 1.5x bar width. Series Overlap controls spacing between series within a category.
Question 4: What is a box and whisker chart used for?
- Stock price open/high/low/close
- Statistical distribution showing median, quartiles, and outliers (Correct answer)
- Decorative chart borders
- Minimum and maximum only
Correct answer: Statistical distribution showing median, quartiles, and outliers
Box plots display five-number summaries: min, Q1, median, Q3, max, plus outliers.
The box spans Q1 to Q3 (IQR), whiskers extend to min/max, and points beyond 1.5x IQR are outliers.
Question 5: How do you create in-cell data bars?
- Insert > Charts > Data Bar
- Home > Conditional Formatting > Data Bars (Correct answer)
- Format Cells > Data Bars
- View > Data Bar toggle
Correct answer: Home > Conditional Formatting > Data Bars
Data Bars are a conditional formatting option that adds proportional bars inside cells.
Options include gradient/solid fill, bar color, direction, negative value handling. Hide numbers with custom format ;;;.
Question 6: What visualization shows distribution of a single continuous variable?
- Scatter chart
- Histogram (Correct answer)
- Radar chart
- Bubble chart
Correct answer: Histogram
Histograms group continuous data into bins and show frequency as bar height.
Bars touch (no gaps) to emphasize continuity. Pareto charts add a cumulative percentage line. Reveals distribution shape, central tendency, and spread.
Microsoft Excel Data Visualization with Charts 2
What chart type is best for showing trends over continuous time?