Data governance is the practice of establishing and enforcing policies, standards, roles, and responsibilities for the management and use of data across the organization. Data governance helps to address the problem of inconsistent data definitions across various data sources by ensuring that data is properly defined, documented, classified, and aligned with the business objectives and requirements12. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 292: Data Governance: How to Design, Deploy and Sustain an Effective Data Governance Program, John Ladley, 2012, p. 3.

The business analyst is using the rough order of magnitude method to estimate this work. This method is based on expert opinion or experience from past projects, and it provides a quick and approximate estimate of the cost, time, or effort required for a project or a task. This method is useful when there is limited information or data available, or when a high-level estimate is needed for planning or budgeting purposes. However, this method also has a high degree of uncertainty and variability, and it should be refined as more details become available12 References: 1: Project Estimation Techniques Business Analysts Should Know About 2: Estimation techniques for business analysts – The Functional BA

A Data Flow Diagram (DFD) is a technique that shows the flow of data among processes, data stores, and external entities in a system. DFDs can be categorized as logical or physical, depending on the level of detail and abstraction. A logical DFD focuses on the business functions and data flows, without specifying the implementation details. A physical DFD shows the actual components and mechanisms that are involved in the data flow, such as hardware, software, files, and network connections. References:

•10.13 Data Flow Diagrams | IIBA® - International Institute of Business …, menu, 10.13 Data Flow Diagrams

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 2: Source Data

•Introduction to Business Data Analytics: Organizational View, page 16, Figure 6: Data Flow Diagram

Acceptance and evaluation criteria are the techniques that the BA professional on the team should recommend they complete, because they are the standards or measures that are used to evaluate the suitability and value of each option. Acceptance and evaluation criteria can help the team compare the benefits, costs, risks, and impacts of each option, and determine which one best meets the needs and expectations of the stakeholders. Acceptance and evaluation criteria can also help the team communicate the rationale and evidence behind their recommendation, and ensure that the recommendation is aligned with the business goals and objectives. References:

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 5: Use Results to Influence Business Decision Making

•Understanding the Guide to Business Data Analytics, page 9

•Acceptance and Evaluation Criteria | Business Analysis

Descriptive analytics is a type of analytics that summarizes and visualizes the data to provide an overview of what has happened or is happening, such as the attrition rates and the personality test scores of the employees12. The team has been asked to perform descriptive analytics to explore possible relationships between the data variables, without making any predictions or prescriptions for the future. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 182: Business Analytics: Data Analysis & Decision Making, S. Christian Albright and Wayne L. Winston, 2015, p. 5.

The most financially feasible option is the one that maximizes the return on investment (ROI), the present value (PV), and the net present value (NPV), and minimizes the payback period. ROI measures the annual percentage return of an investment, PV measures the current value of future cash flows, NPV measures the difference between the PV and the initial cost of an investment, and payback period measures the time it takes to recover the initial cost of an investment. A higher ROI, PV, and NPV indicate a more profitable and valuable investment, while a lower payback period indicates a faster recovery and lower risk of an investment

The mean is the average of all the scores, which is found by adding them up and dividing by the number of scores. The mode is the most frequent score, which is the one that occurs the most times. To find the mean and mode for the outlined scores, we can use the following steps:

•Arrange the scores in ascending order: 64, 70, 80, 80, 90, 98, 100

•Add up the scores: 64 + 70 + 80 + 80 + 90 + 98 + 100 = 582

•Divide the sum by the number of scores: 582 / 7 = 83.14

•The mean is 83.14

•Count how many times each score occurs: 64 occurs once, 70 occurs once, 80 occurs twice, 90 occurs once, 98 occurs once, 100 occurs once

•The score that occurs the most times is 80

•The mode is 80

Therefore, the mean and mode for the outlined scores are 83.14 and 80, respectively12 References: 1: Mean, median, and mode review (article) | Khan Academy 2: Mean, Median, and Mode: Measures of Central Tendency - Statistics By Jim

The sample used in this case is biased, meaning that it is not representative of the population of interest. The population of interest is the families in North America, but the sample is drawn from only one source of data: the credit card transactions from a leading North American credit card company. This sample excludes the families who do not use credit cards, or who use other credit card companies, or who use other payment methods. Therefore, the sample is not random or fair, and it may introduce sampling bias into the research results12 References: 1: Sampling Methods | Types, Techniques & Examples 2: Sampling Bias - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics

The quality of the data is the most important dimension to consider when identifying research questions, as it affects the validity, reliability, and accuracy of the analysis and the results. Data quality refers to the degree to which the data meets the requirements and expectations of the stakeholders and the purpose of the analysis12. Poor data quality can lead to erroneous conclusions, ineffective decisions, and wasted resources3. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 282: Data Quality Assessment, Arkady Maydanchik, 2007, p. 33: Data Quality: The Field Guide, Thomas C. Redman, 2001, p. 1.

A street address is a primitive data element, because it is a basic unit of data that cannot be further decomposed into smaller components. A primitive data element has a distinct name, definition, format, and value domain. A street address can be used to identify the location of an employee or a customer, and it can be stored as a string or a combination of numbers and characters. Options B, C, and D are not primitive data elements, because they can be further broken down into smaller components. For example, a first name can be divided into a prefix, a given name, and a suffix. A customer name can be composed of a first name and a last name. A work phone number can be split into a country code, an area code, and a local number. References:

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 2: Source Data

•Business analysis data dictionary – The Functional BA

•CERTIFICATION IN BUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS HANDBOOK - IIBA®, page 8, CBDA Exam Sample Questions and Self-Assessment, Question 15

The information layer is the layer that connects the business processes to data analytics. It consists of the data models, data quality, data governance, and data security that enable the data to be accessed, analyzed, and transformed into insights. The information layer also supports the communication and collaboration among the stakeholders involved in the data analytics process. The other layers are the physical layer, which deals with the hardware and software components of the data infrastructure; the technical layer, which handles the data integration, data storage, data processing, and data analysis techniques; and the infrastructure layer, which provides the network, cloud, and security services for the data environment12 References: 1: Data and Analytics (D&A) - Gartner 2: Enterprise Data Analytics - SelectHub

The average time for conversion is the average number of days it takes to convert a lead into a customer. This is an important question to consider when evaluating sales performance, because it indicates the efficiency and effectiveness of the sales process. A shorter time for conversion means that the sales team can close more deals in less time, and thus increase the revenue and profitability of the company. A longer time for conversion may indicate that there are bottlenecks, challenges, or inefficiencies in the sales process that need to be addressed. References:

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 5: Use Results to Influence Business Decision Making

•Understanding the Guide to Business Data Analytics, page 9

•Business Data Analytics (IIBA®-CBDA Exam preparation) | Udemy, Section 4: Interpret and Report Results, Lecture 19: Sales Performance Metrics

The business analyst is concerned about the validity of the survey. Validity is the extent to which a survey measures what it intends to measure. In this case, the survey is supposed to measure job satisfaction, but the two questions asked to different groups of employees are not equivalent or relevant to this construct. The question “Do you enjoy working in your workplace?” is more directly related to job satisfaction than the question “Do you like the current work benefits?”. The latter question may capture only one aspect of job satisfaction, and may not reflect the overall level of contentment or happiness with the job. Therefore, the survey results may not be valid or accurate in measuring job satisfaction12 References: 1: Survey and questionnaires in business analysis - The Functional BA 2: Job Satisfaction Survey - Paul Spector

A normal probability plot is a graphical technique that can be used to check if a variable follows a Gaussian distribution. It plots the observed values of the variable against the expected values under the normal distribution. If the variable is normally distributed, the points should form a straight line. A scatterplot, a boxplot, and a lowess curve are not suitable for testing normality, as they do not compare the observed values with the theoretical values of the normal distribution.

https://www.graphpad.com/support/faq/testing-data-for-normal-distrbution/

Factor analysis is the technique that, if used, would achieve the objective of producing a single score of sustainability, because it is a technique that reduces the dimensionality of a data set by identifying the underlying factors or latent variables that explain the variation and correlation among the observed variables. Factor analysis can help the analytics team combine the 10 measures of workplace sustainability into a smaller number of factors, and then derive a composite score of sustainability based on the factor loadings and weights. Factor analysis can also help the analytics team simplify and interpret the data, and identify the key drivers of sustainability. References:

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 3: Analyze Data

•Understanding the Guide to Business Data Analytics, page 17

•Business Data Analytics (IIBA®-CBDA Exam preparation) | Udemy, Section 3: Analyze Data, Lecture 15: Factor Analysis

A pie chart is a circular chart that shows the proportion of each category in a whole by dividing the circle into slices. A pie chart would result in confusion when comparing the number of sales for a specific model of electric car across all 50 US states, because it is difficult to compare the angles and areas of the slices, especially when there are many categories with similar values. A pie chart also does not show the absolute values of each category, unless they are labeled or annotated12. A better alternative would be a bar chart, which can show the number of sales for each state along a common axis, making it easier to compare and rank the values3. References: 1: Guide to Business Data Analytics, IIBA, 2020, p. 652: Storytelling with Data, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, 2015, p. 673: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Edward R. Tufte, 2001, p. 178.

According to the Business Data Analytics (IIBA®- CBDA) principles, extreme outliers in a dataset can be identified visually on a scatter plot as points that are distinctly separate from the bulk of the data. In this visual, there are three points that are significantly higher on the y-axis (credit card expense) relative to their position on the x-axis (household income), indicating unusual credit card purchases. References: The identification and interpretation of outliers is a standard practice in data analytics and is covered under the Business Data Analytics (IIBA®- CBDA) learning resources.

The question “Given that you’re a customer, would you work at our company?” is unclear, because it is a hypothetical and subjective question that does not specify the purpose, scope, or context of the analysis. The question also does not define what constitutes a customer, or how the customer’s experience or satisfaction relates to the employee’s motivation or performance. The question needs to be refined and clarified to make it more focused, relevant, and feasible for the analytics team to answer. For example, the question could be rephrased as “How does the customer satisfaction score affect the employee retention rate in our company?” References:

•Business Analysis Certification in Data Analytics, CBDA | IIBA®, CBDA Competencies, Domain 1: Identify the Research Questions

•Understanding the Guide to Business Data Analytics, page 10-11

•CERTIFICATION IN BUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS HANDBOOK - IIBA®, page 8, CBDA Exam Sample Questions and Self-Assessment, Question 16