DSE - Data Science Data Visualization and Communication Flashcards

Which business intelligence tool is most widely used for creating interactive dashboards without coding?

Answer: Tableau

Tableau is an industry-standard BI platform that allows analysts to build interactive, shareable dashboards through a drag-and-drop interface.

In Edward Tufte's framework, what does a high 'data-ink ratio' indicate about a visualization?

Answer: Most of the ink conveys actual data rather than non-essential embellishments

Tufte's data-ink ratio principle states that unnecessary ink (gridlines, borders, decorations) should be minimized so the visualization focuses attention on the data itself.

Which color scale is most appropriate for visualizing data that diverges around a meaningful midpoint (e.g., profit/loss)?

Answer: Diverging two-hue scale

A diverging color scale uses two contrasting hues that meet at a neutral midpoint, making it easy to distinguish positive and negative deviations.

What is the primary purpose of a Q-Q (quantile-quantile) plot in data analysis?

Answer: Assessing whether a dataset follows a specific theoretical distribution

A Q-Q plot compares the quantiles of sample data against the quantiles of a reference distribution to assess how well the data fits that distribution.

Which visualization is most effective for displaying trends of multiple categories over time on the same chart?

Answer: Multi-line time-series chart

A multi-line chart plots each category as a separate line over a shared time axis, making it easy to compare trends and relative changes simultaneously.

A violin plot is best described as a combination of which two visualizations?

Answer: Box plot and kernel density estimate

A violin plot merges a box plot (showing median and quartiles) with a mirrored kernel density estimate, providing both summary statistics and distribution shape.