A bar chart displays the number of students in each major at a university. What type of data distribution is being visualized?

• A. A quantitative (numerical) data distribution
• B. A time series distribution
• C. A normal distribution
• D. A qualitative (categorical) data distribution

Answer: (D)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Identify the type of data represented in the bar chart. Since the chart shows the number of students in each major, the data categories are different majors, which are labels or names, not numbers measured on a scale.
2. Understand that qualitative (categorical) data refers to data that can be divided into groups or categories that do not have a numerical value or order, such as majors, colors, or types of animals.
3. Recognize that a bar chart is commonly used to display qualitative data by showing the frequency or count of items in each category, with each bar representing a category.
4. Distinguish this from quantitative data, which involves numerical values that can be measured or ordered, such as height, weight, or test scores, and would typically be shown with histograms or line graphs.
5. Conclude that since the data consists of categories (majors) and their counts, the distribution visualized by the bar chart is a qualitative (categorical) data distribution.