Business Intelligence Certification Practice Test 2026 – Complete Exam Prep

Descriptive analytics focuses on summarizing historical data to understand what has happened in a business context. The aim is to provide insights through statistical measures that give a clear picture of past performance. Percentiles and frequency distributions are key statistical methods used in this area.

Percentiles help in understanding the distribution of data points by indicating the relative standing of a value within a dataset. For example, the 50th percentile (or median) provides insight into how a particular value compares to the rest of the data. Frequency distributions, on the other hand, show how often each different value occurs in a dataset, allowing for a clear view of the distribution of data points and helping identify trends and patterns.

These methods are essential in descriptive analytics because they facilitate the easy interpretation of datasets, enabling stakeholders to make informed decisions based on past behaviors and outcomes effectively.

Other methods listed, while valuable in different contexts, do not primarily focus on summarizing historical data.