DA0-002 Data Analysis Practice Question
A data scientist is cleaning a dataset and notices missing values in several columns. Which THREE techniques are appropriate for handling missing data? (Select THREE.)
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the misconception that ignoring missing values (Option B) is acceptable, but the DA0-001 exam expects candidates to recognize that most analytical tools require explicit handling of nulls, and simply proceeding without action leads to runtime errors or flawed results.
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
✓
Replace missing values with the mean or median
Replacing missing values with the mean (for normally distributed data) or median (for skewed data) is a standard imputation technique that preserves the central tendency of the dataset without introducing bias. This method is appropriate when the missingness is random and the proportion of missing data is low, as it maintains the sample size for analysis.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Replace missing values with the mean or median
Why this is correct
Imputation with mean/median is a common technique for numeric data.
- ✗
Ignore missing values and proceed with analysis
Why it's wrong here
Ignoring missing values can lead to biased results and incorrect conclusions.
- ✓
Predict missing values using regression
Why this is correct
Regression imputation uses other variables to estimate missing values and can be more accurate than simple imputation.
- ✓
Remove rows with missing values
Why this is correct
Removing rows is acceptable if the missing data is random and the sample size remains adequate.
- ✗
Always replace missing values with zero
Why it's wrong here
Replacing with zero is arbitrary and can distort the data distribution.
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This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DA0-002 exam.