Certificate in Business Data Analytics (CBDA) — Question 1

With the recent departure of two of its employees, an IT helpdesk team is now understaffed and finding it difficult to keep up with the current workload. The number of tickets being received has increased as well as the number of days to resolve the tickets. The IT manager has set up a meeting with the IT director to request funding for two new helpdesk agents. To prepare for the meeting, the manager is interested in showing the tickets processed against ticket volume over the past year.
What type of chart should the manager use to effectively show the change in processing rate over time?

Answer options

• A. A pie chart to compare the number of tickets coming in versus tickets being processed each month, over the past year
• B. A waterfall chart to show the number of tickets coming in are a lot higher than those being processed as of year to date
• C. A line chart to show the widening gap between the number of tickets being processed against the number coming over the past year
• D. A column chart to compare the number of tickets coming in versus tickets being processed each month, since June

Correct answer: C

Explanation

The correct answer is C, as a line chart effectively visualizes trends over time, allowing the manager to highlight the increasing gap between incoming and processed tickets. Options A and D suggest pie and column charts, which are not ideal for showing changes over time, while option B, the waterfall chart, focuses more on the current state rather than the trend over the year.