IPA IP 2023 Question 27
A question IPA Japan published in 令和5年度 ITパスポート試験 公開問題 問27, translated into English. ITPEC is based on the same exams.
Family restaurant chain A has decided to analyze the relationship among three (3) elements for each restaurant, namely the number of seats, the average spend per customer, and the sales, in order to examine its restaurant operation strategy. Which of the following is the most appropriate chart to be used when the three (3) elements of each restaurant are visualized for all restaurants in one (1) chart?
Explanation
Bubble chart — it shows three numeric values per item in one chart: two as the position on the axes and the third as the size of the bubble.
For the restaurant chain, each restaurant becomes one bubble: for example the number of seats on the horizontal axis, the average spend per customer on the vertical axis, and the sales as the area of the bubble. All restaurants fit on one chart, and outliers, such as many seats but small sales, stand out at a glance. A scatter diagram alone shows only two of the three values.
Answer (b)
Why not others:
- •(a) Gantt chart — bars of tasks against a time axis, for schedules and progress, not for relating numeric values
- •(c) Mind map — branches of ideas radiating from a central theme, for organizing thoughts, with no quantitative axes
- •(d) Roadmap — a timeline of planned goals, such as technologies or products over the coming years
Key rule: A scatter diagram relates two values per item; adding a third value as the bubble size makes it a bubble chart.
Corporate Activities · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from the past questions IPA Japan publishes, translated into English by ITPEC Practice. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with IPA or ITPEC. See the original paper (PDF) or Report an issue.