data analytics

Which statement best reflects the impact of exponential data growth on the accounting profession?

B. It shifts accountants toward strategic decision-making roles

According to the lecture, what is the primary limitation of automated systems in accounting?

C. Absence of contextual and specialised accounting knowledge

Which Bloom's Taxonomy level is identified as a key area where accountants retain a human advantage?

D. Evaluating

Which task is classified as a machine advantage under Bloom's Taxonomy?

C. Identifying patterns in data

Which of the following best describes descriptive analytics?

D. Summarising what has happened

Diagnostic analytics primarily seeks to answer which question?

C. Why did it happen?

In the retail umbrella example, moving stock to the front of the shop represents which type of analytics?

D. Prescriptive

Which consideration evaluates whether the benefits of insights exceed the cost of data collection?

C. Value for money

Which data consideration addresses ownership and permission to use data?

B. Governance

Statistics is defined in the lecture as:

C. A methodology for extracting useful information from data

Which variable type represents ranked categories such as service ratings?

B. Ordinal

Which of the following is an example of a continuous variable?

C. Temperature

Inferential statistics are primarily concerned with:

D. Drawing conclusions about a population from a sample

Why is population data generally impractical to use?

C. It is too expensive or impossible to collect

Which sampling method is classified as non-probability?

D. Convenience

Cross-sectional data records characteristics:

B. At a single point in time

Which data type tracks changes in a single subject across time?

C. Time series

Big Data is characterised primarily by:

D. Difficulty in management and analysis

Which example represents secondary data?

C. Census data

Recording customer clicks on a website is an example of:

D. Capturing ongoing business activity

Which online source is explicitly identified as an official data provider?

B. Eurostat

What is the first step in the data analytics process?

C. Identify the problem

Which auditing task aligns with Step 1: Identify the Problem?

B. Analysing segregation of duties

Data screening focuses primarily on:

B. Ensuring data validity before analysis

Which action is part of data cleaning?

B. Removing headings and subtotals

Why should original datasets always be preserved during cleaning?

C. To allow reference back to raw data

Which issue reflects a coding error?

C. Case inconsistencies in categories

Inconsistent date formats are an example of:

B. Human error

Which survey error arises when certain groups cannot be selected?

D. Coverage error

Determining whether data is qualitative or quantitative occurs during which step?

B. Perform the test plan

Z-scores are associated with which type of analytics?

B. Diagnostic

Which predictive technique forecasts dependent values based on inputs?

C. Regression

Artificial intelligence is primarily associated with which analytics stage?

D. Prescriptive

Why must results from analytics be interpreted carefully?

B. Different statistical models yield different results

The primary purpose of communicating insights is to:

B. Support decision-making

Which visualisation type updates continuously?

D. Dashboards

Which visualisation is most appropriate for showing trends over time?

C. Line graph

Reporting survey findings without a margin of error raises concerns related to:

B. Sampling error

Sending privacy notices to individuals relates to which ethical consideration?

D. Ethical data practices

Which method is recommended to assess ethical compliance of third-party data providers?

C. Due diligence via audits or questionnaires

What is the primary purpose of 'Descriptive Analytics' in an accounting context?

b) To summarise historical data to show what has already happened

Which of the following is an example of 'Quantitative Discrete' data?

c) The specific number of laptops sold in a day

In the Data Analytics lifecycle, what does 'Mastering the Data' involve?

b) Cleaning, validating, and ensuring the integrity of the data

Which statistical measure is defined as the difference between the highest and lowest values in a set?

c) Range

In probability, what does an outcome of 0.5 represent?

c) The event is just as likely to happen as not (50/50 chance)

Which chart type is best suited for comparing quantities across different categories, such as 'Sales per Region'?

b) Bar Chart

What is 'Primary Data'?

c) Data collected firsthand by the researcher for a specific purpose

In the regression formula Y = Bo + B1X, what is B1?

c) The slope (the rate of change in Y for every unit of X)

An auditor uses 'Data Reduction' to filter 10,000 transactions down to only those that occurred on weekends. Why is this done?

b) To focus on higher-risk areas where unauthorized activity might occur

A 'Positively Skewed' distribution usually indicates that:

b) Most data points are low, with a few very high outliers

Which probability distribution is best for modeling the number of defects found in a fixed batch of 100 printed circuit boards?

c) Binomial Distribution

In a Normal Distribution, if a value has a Z-score of 0, where does it sit?

c) Exactly at the Mean

Why would an accountant use a 'Pareto Chart' when analyzing company expenses?

b) To identify the 'vital few' categories that make up the majority of costs

What is the 'Complement Rule' applied to a 2% chance of a system crash?

a) There is a 98% chance the system will NOT crash

If an analyst wants to estimate the average debt of all students but only surveys 50 people, what are they using?

b) Inferential Statistics

When using the =STDEV.S function in Excel, what does the 'S' signify?

b) The data represents a Sample of the population

Which of these is a 'Mutually Exclusive' pair of events in a single transaction?

b) A sale is 'Approved' and the sale is 'Rejected'.

If a regression model has a very low R² (Coefficient of Determination), what does this suggest to the accountant?

b) The independent variable (X) does not explain much of the change in the outcome (Y)

What is 'Sampling Error'?

b) The natural difference between a sample result and the true population result

Which analytical stage is described as 'Looking in the rearview mirror'?

c) Descriptive

In a hypothesis test, what is the 'Significance Level' (α)?

a) The probability of making a Type I error (False Alarm)

Why is the 'Median' often preferred over the 'Mean' when looking at housing prices?

b) It is not distorted by a few extremely expensive 'outlier' mansions

What does a 'Scatter Plot' help visualize?

b) The relationship or correlation between two variables

In the 'Identify the Problem' stage of the lifecycle, what is the most important task?

b) Defining a clear, answerable business question

Which distribution is 'Memoryless,' meaning the timing of the next event does not depend on when the last one happened?

c) Poisson

'Extrapolation' in forecasting is risky because:

b) It assumes that past trends will continue exactly the same way into the unknown future

What is the 'Null Hypothesis' in a test regarding a new medical drug?

b) The drug has no effect (is no different from a placebo)

In Excel formulas, what does the 'TRUE' switch usually signify for probability distributions?

b) Give me the 'at most' or cumulative probability

Which of the following scenarios describes a 'Type I Error' (False Alarm)?

b) A smoke detector goes off because of burnt toast, not a fire

What is 'Multicollinearity' in regression analysis?

b) When two independent variables are highly correlated with each other, confusing the model

Why is 'Human Judgment' still required even if a computer produces a perfect predictive model?

b) Models are backward-looking and cannot account for sudden 'black swan' events or context.

If an accountant 'cherry-picks' only the data that supports their manager's desired outcome, which ethical principle are they violating?

b) Objectivity and Integrity

The 'Coefficient of Variation' is calculated as (Standard Deviation / Mean). Without calculating, what does a high result tell you?

b) The data is very spread out and volatile relative to its size

In hypothesis testing, if the p-value is 0.85 (and α is 0.05), what should you do?

b) Fail to reject the Null Hypothesis (there is not enough evidence to change)

Which of the following best describes the 'Central Limit Theorem'?

b) As sample size increases, the distribution of the sample mean will look like a normal curve.

When is it appropriate to use 'Secondary Data'?

b) When the data is already available (like stock market prices and saves time/money)

In the context of 'Big Data,' what is the main challenge for the modern accountant?

b) Turning massive amounts of 'noise' into meaningful, actionable 'signals'

A 'Standard Normal Distribution' (Z-distribution) always has:

b) A mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1

What does 'Diagnostic Analytics' focus on?

b) Investigating the 'Why' behind a trend, such as why sales dropped in July

If you are performing a 'Two-Tailed' hypothesis test on a budget, you are checking if the actual spend is:

c) Either significantly higher OR significantly lower than the budget.

Which statement best describes descriptive analytics?

C. It summarises historical data to explain what has happened.

Why do auditors use descriptive analytics at the early stages of an engagement?

D. To check data completeness and focus attention.

Which activity best demonstrates data reduction?

C. Filtering transactions over a monetary threshold.

Why are high-value transactions often prioritised in audit testing?

C. They usually carry higher risk.

Which of the following is qualitative data?

D. Payment method.

Which dataset is quantitative in nature?

C. Sale amount.

What is the primary way qualitative data is summarised?

C. By frequency counting.

Relative frequency is calculated as:

B. Category count ÷ total observations.

What must the total of all relative frequencies equal?

C. Exactly 1 (or 100%).

Which chart is most appropriate for showing how a total is divided into categories?

D. Pie chart.

Why can pie charts become ineffective?

C. Too many slices reduce readability.

What feature distinguishes a bar chart from a histogram?

C. Bar charts compare categories.

Why are gaps left between bars in a bar chart?

B. To indicate categories are distinct.

A Pareto chart is best described as:

D. A bar chart sorted from highest to lowest.

The Pareto principle commonly reflects which ratio?

C. 80/20.

Why is a Pareto chart useful in auditing?

B. It highlights the most significant risk items.

Quantitative data is often grouped into intervals because:

C. There are too many unique values.

Which rule applies when creating intervals?

B. They must be mutually exclusive.

Intervals are exhaustive when:

C. Every data point fits into one group.

Which chart is used to visualise frequency distributions for continuous data?

D. Histogram.