Which of the following should the analyst do to the variables to ensure they all have the same weight in the score calculation?

Refer to the exhibit.

A customer list from a financial services company is shown below:

A data analyst wants to create a likely-to-buy score on a scale from 0 to 100, based on an average of the three numerical variables: number of credit cards, age, and income.

Which of the following should the analyst do to the variables to ensure they all have the same weight in the score calculation?
A . Recode the variables.
B . Calculate the percentiles of the variables.
C . Calculate the standard deviations of the variables.
D . Normalize the variables.

View Answer

Answer: D

Explanation:

Normalizing the variables means scaling them to a common range, such as 0 to 1 or -1 to 1, so that they have the same weight in the score calculation. Recoding the variables means changing their values or categories, which would alter their meaning and distribution. Calculating the percentiles of the variables means ranking them relative to each other, which would not account for their actual magnitudes. Calculating the standard deviations of the variables means measuring their variability, which would not make them comparable.

Reference: CompTIA Data+ Certification Exam Objectives, page 10