DA0-002 Data Governance Practice Question
A business user asks a data analyst to include several charts in a weekly report. The user wants to see the trend of sales over the last 12 months at a glance. Which chart type should the analyst use?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse a stacked bar chart's ability to show cumulative totals over time with a clear trend line, but the stacked segments actually make it harder to discern the overall sales trajectory at a glance.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Line chart
A line chart is the correct choice because it is specifically designed to display trends over continuous time intervals, such as sales over 12 months. The x-axis represents time (months), and the y-axis represents sales values, allowing the user to quickly see upward, downward, or cyclical patterns. This aligns with the requirement to visualize a trend at a glance, which is a core strength of line charts in data visualization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Line chart
Why this is correct
A line chart plots the continuous time dimension on the x-axis and sales on the y-axis, connecting points to expose direction and rate of change. This makes the twelve-month trend immediately visible at a glance.
- ✗
Stacked bar chart
Why it's wrong here
Stacked bars show each month's total split by category, but the trend of the overall sales line is obscured because segment heights shift within the stack. Use it to compare category composition across periods, not to display a single 12-month trend at a glance.
- ✗
Treemap
Why it's wrong here
A treemap encodes part-to-whole magnitude through nested rectangle area, so twelve sequential monthly values cannot be read as a continuous trend. It suits hierarchical composition, such as revenue split by region and product category, where relative proportions matter rather than change over time.
- ✗
Pie chart
Why it's wrong here
A pie chart shows parts of a single whole at one point in time, so twelve monthly values cannot be plotted as a trend. Pie charts suit proportional breakdowns, such as each product's share of total sales in one month; a line chart shows change over time.
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