Maps and Data

1. A choropleth map shows unemployment rates by state, with darker colors indicating higher rates. The map uses a color scale from 2% (lightest) to 10% (darkest). State A is colored the darkest shade. What can you definitively conclude?

A) State A has the worst economy in the country
B) State A has an unemployment rate at or near 10%
C) State A has lost more jobs than any other state
D) Most workers in State A are unemployed

2. A line graph shows federal spending from 2010-2020. The y-axis starts at $3.5 trillion and goes to $4.5 trillion. What is the most important caution when interpreting this graph?

A) Line graphs are less accurate than bar graphs
B) The truncated y-axis may exaggerate the visual appearance of changes
C) Federal spending data is unreliable
D) The time period is too short to draw conclusions

3. An electoral cartogram resizes states based on electoral votes rather than geographic area. Compared to a standard map, this cartogram would make which state appear larger relative to others?

A) Alaska (3 electoral votes, largest land area)
B) Rhode Island (4 electoral votes, small land area)
C) Montana (4 electoral votes, large land area)
D) California (54 electoral votes, large land area)

4. A scatter plot shows a positive correlation between a state's education spending per pupil and median household income. What conclusion is NOT supported by this data alone?

A) States with higher median incomes tend to spend more on education
B) There is a statistical relationship between these two variables
C) Increasing education spending will raise household incomes
D) The two variables move in the same direction

5. A pie chart shows the federal budget: 23% Social Security, 14% Medicare, 13% Medicaid, 15% Defense, 6% Interest on Debt, and 29% Everything Else. What is a limitation of presenting budget data this way?

A) Pie charts cannot show percentages accurately
B) The chart does not show how spending has changed over time
C) Federal budget data is too complex for visualization
D) Pie charts cannot show more than five categories

6. A political map shows congressional districts in a state. Several districts have highly irregular shapes, with thin corridors connecting separate population centers. This pattern might indicate:

A) Natural geographic features like rivers
B) Gerrymandering to achieve partisan advantage
C) Efficient distribution of representatives
D) Historical county boundaries

7. A dual-axis graph shows both unemployment rate (left y-axis, 0-12%) and stock market index (right y-axis, 0-40,000). The two lines appear to move in opposite directions. What caution applies?

A) Unemployment and stock markets are unrelated
B) The different scales may create misleading visual comparisons
C) Dual-axis graphs are always inaccurate
D) Stock market data should never be graphed

8. A flow map shows migration patterns between states. Arrows of varying thickness indicate the number of people moving between states. What additional information would most improve this map's usefulness?

A) The colors of each state
B) The names of state capitals
C) Net migration (inflows minus outflows) for each state
D) The geographic center of each state

9. An economist presents two graphs of the same GDP data. One uses a linear scale; the other uses a logarithmic scale. On the log-scale graph, consistent percentage growth appears as a straight line. When would the log scale be more appropriate?

A) Never; linear scales are always better
B) When comparing growth rates over long periods with compounding
C) When the actual dollar amounts are most important
D) When presenting data to general audiences

10. A bar chart compares GDP per capita using purchasing power parity (PPP). Why might PPP be more useful than nominal GDP for comparing living standards?

A) PPP is easier to calculate
B) PPP adjusts for differences in cost of living between countries
C) PPP ignores currency exchange rates
D) PPP is the official measurement used by all governments

11. A news article shows a map of the United States with each county colored by which candidate won in the last presidential election. The map appears overwhelmingly red. Which statement best explains this visual?

A) The red candidate won the election decisively
B) More voters preferred the red candidate
C) Rural counties cover more land area but contain fewer voters than urban counties
D) The map accurately represents the national popular vote

12. A time-series graph shows federal debt from 1940 to present in nominal dollars. The line rises sharply after 2000. An economist argues this presentation is misleading. What would be a more informative approach?

A) Using only data from after 2000
B) Showing debt as a percentage of GDP or in inflation-adjusted dollars
C) Using a bar chart instead of a line graph
D) Showing only years when debt decreased