Microsoft Certified Power Bi Data Analyst Associate · Free Practice Question Medium
Question 31
The Sales Analytics Team at Company A has created a line chart in Power BI to track the Sum of Order Total over time. They've enabled specific analytics features to better understand data variability and reliability.
In the Error Bars configuration panel on the right, what happens if the Upper Bound is set to 0% and the Lower Bound is set to 20%?
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A
This configuration is invalid, and Power BI will display an error.
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B
Both Error Bars will appear, but only for data points above 20%.
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C
The Error Bars will disappear entirely.
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D
Only the lower Error Bar will be displayed, extending downward by 20%.
Reveal correct answer
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Solution with Error Bars Configuration
The Sales Analytics Team’s line chart tracks Sum of Order Total over time, with Error Bars configured in Power BI. The question asks what happens when Upper Bound is 0% and Lower Bound is 20%. Here’s how:
Configure Error Bars:
In Power BI Desktop, select the line chart (e.g., Date on X-axis, SumOrderTotal = SUM(Sales[OrderTotal])on Y-axis—Jan: $100K).
In "Analytics" pane > "Error Bars," enable them. Set "Type" to "Percentage," Upper Bound to 0%, Lower Bound to 20%. Apply.
Result: For $100K in Jan, Upper Bound = $100K + 0% = $100K (no upper bar), Lower Bound = $100K - 20% = $80K. A downward bar extends from $100K to $80K—e.g., 20% below each point, per error bars docs.
Why This Works
Asymmetric Display: Upper Bound 0% means no upward extension—e.g., $100K stays flat. Lower Bound 20% shows a downward bar—e.g., $80K limit, visualizing downside variability only.
Domain Fit: "Visualize and analyze the data" includes configuring analytics like error bars to highlight specific data aspects.
The Microsoft error bars guide states, “Setting bounds to 0% disables that direction’s bar, allowing asymmetric visualization.” This matches the configuration’s effect.
Why Not Other Options?
Error Bars don’t disappear—0% Upper Bound just skips the top bar, Lower 20% still shows.
Both bars above 20% misinterprets bounds—0% Upper disables it entirely.
No error occurs—Power BI accepts 0% as valid, rendering only the lower bar.
This setting displays only the lower error bar at 20%.
A. The configuration of setting the Upper Bound to 0% and the Lower Bound to 20% is valid in Power BI's Error Bars feature. It does not lead to an error in Power BI. This setting specifically indicates that the lower Error Bar will be displayed, extending downward by 20% to show the potential variability in the data points.
B. Contrary to the statement, if the Upper Bound is set to 0% and the Lower Bound is set to 20%, both Error Bars will not appear only for data points above 20%. Instead, only the lower Error Bar will be displayed, extending downward by 20% to represent the potential variability in the data.
C. If the Upper Bound is set to 0% and the Lower Bound is set to 20%, the Error Bars will not disappear entirely. Instead, only the lower Error Bar will be displayed, extending downward by 20%. This configuration indicates that the data points may have a variability of up to 20% below the actual value.
D. Setting the Upper Bound to 0% and the Lower Bound to 20% means that only the lower Error Bar will be displayed in the line chart. The lower Error Bar will extend downward by 20%, showing the potential variability or margin of error below the data points.
Discussion
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