DA0-002 Visualization and Reporting Practice Question
An analyst creates a pie chart showing market share of four companies: A (45%), B (30%), C (15%), D (10%). A stakeholder complains that it is difficult to compare C and D. Which alternative chart should the analyst recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
DA0-002 often tests chart selection by presenting a pie chart with similar small slices, and candidates may choose a stacked bar chart instead of a horizontal bar chart, missing that stacked bars hinder comparison of individual segments.
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
✓
Horizontal bar chart
A horizontal bar chart makes it easy to compare the lengths of bars for categories C (15%) and D (10%) because the bars are aligned on a common baseline and differences in length are visually precise. Pie charts are poor for comparing similar small slices, whereas bar charts excel at this task.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Horizontal bar chart
Why this is correct
A horizontal bar chart encodes each company's value as bar length on a common baseline, making the 15% versus 10% difference between C and D directly comparable. Pie slices at similar angles are far harder to distinguish accurately.
- ✗
Line chart
Why it's wrong here
A line chart plots a continuous variable against an ordered axis, so it implies trend between the four companies rather than comparing their discrete shares; C and D would sit as two points on a sequence. It is tempting for showing change over time, which is its actual purpose, but the stem has no time dimension.
- ✗
Stacked bar chart
Why it's wrong here
A stacked bar places C and D as segments of one bar, so their lengths still depend on the shared baseline and remain hard to compare directly. It is tempting because it shows composition, but its correct use is comparing totals across categories while preserving part-to-whole structure, not ranking individual shares.
- ✗
Scatter plot
Why it's wrong here
A scatter plot encodes two numeric variables per observation to reveal correlation, so plotting four market-share values against nothing gives no comparison axis for C and D. It is tempting because it compares magnitudes visually, but its correct use is paired continuous measurements, not parts of a single whole.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
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.