A bar chart displays the number of students in each major at a university. Which type of distribution does the graph illustrate?

• A. A qualitative (categorical) distribution
• B. A quantitative (numerical) distribution
• C. A normal distribution
• D. A uniform distribution

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the types of data represented in the bar chart. Since the chart shows the number of students in each major, the categories are different majors, which are labels or names, not numbers measured on a scale.
2. Step 2: Recognize that data involving categories or groups without inherent numerical order or measurement is called qualitative or categorical data.
3. Step 3: Recall that a bar chart is typically used to display the frequency or count of observations in each category, making it suitable for qualitative data.
4. Step 4: Differentiate this from quantitative distributions, which involve numerical data that can be measured and ordered, such as heights or test scores.
5. Step 5: Conclude that since the bar chart shows counts of students by major (categories), it illustrates a qualitative (categorical) distribution.