Notary Public Data Analysis & Reporting 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A notary keeps a spreadsheet tracking document types. She calculates that 62% of her work involves real estate closings. This figure is best described as a:
- Standard deviation
- Relative frequency percentage (Correct answer)
- Net promoter score
- Confidence interval
Correct answer: Relative frequency percentage
Expressing one category's count as a percentage of the total is calculating relative frequency.
Question 2: Which of the following actions would compromise the integrity of notary journal data?
- Recording the date of each notarization
- Backdating a journal entry to correct a previous omission (Correct answer)
- Including the type of notarial act performed
- Noting the signer's identification type
Correct answer: Backdating a journal entry to correct a previous omission
Backdating journal entries alters the chronological integrity of the record and may constitute fraud.
Question 3: A notary's monthly report shows: January 45 acts, February 38, March 52, April 41. What is the mean number of acts per month?
- 41
- 44 (Correct answer)
- 45
- 176
Correct answer: 44
The mean is calculated as (45+38+52+41) ÷ 4 = 176 ÷ 4 = 44.
Question 4: A notary is asked to provide a summary report of all apostille certifications performed over five years. Which organizational structure is most useful?
- Alphabetical by signer last name
- Chronological by date of certification (Correct answer)
- Grouped by the notary's physical appearance
- Sorted by document page count
Correct answer: Chronological by date of certification
Chronological organization allows easy review of trends over time and is standard for historical records.
Question 5: A notary discovers that 80% of his refused signings are due to missing IDs. According to the Pareto principle, what should he focus on to reduce refusals?
- Improving his scheduling software
- Educating clients about acceptable ID requirements before appointments (Correct answer)
- Reducing his fees to attract more clients
- Hiring an assistant to handle paperwork
Correct answer: Educating clients about acceptable ID requirements before appointments
The Pareto principle says 80% of effects come from 20% of causes; addressing the ID issue tackles the dominant cause of refusals.
Question 6: When analyzing notary fee revenue, which calculation gives the average revenue earned per notarial act?
- Total acts divided by total revenue
- Total revenue divided by total number of acts (Correct answer)
- Total revenue minus expenses
- Total acts multiplied by the state maximum fee
Correct answer: Total revenue divided by total number of acts
Average revenue per act is calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of acts performed.
Question 7: A notary's report to her attorney employer lists the number of documents notarized by document type. This type of report is best categorized as:
- A financial statement
- A categorical activity summary (Correct answer)
- A legal deposition transcript
- A surety bond filing
Correct answer: A categorical activity summary
Listing counts of notarizations broken down by document type is a categorical activity summary.
Notary Public Data Analysis & Reporting 4
A notary keeps a spreadsheet tracking document types.
She calculates that 62% of her work involves real estate closings.
This figure is best described as a: