The article "So Close, Yet So Far: Predictors of Attrition in College Seniors" (Journal of College Student Development [1998]: 343-348) examined the reasons that college seniors leave their college programs before graduating. Forty-two college seniors at a large public university who dropped out before graduation were interviewed and asked the main reason for discontinuing enrollment at the university. Data consistent with that given in the article are summarized in the following frequency distribution:
Reason for Leaving the University Frequency
Academic problems 7
Poor advising or teaching 3
a. Do you think this is an effective use of a pie chart? Why or why not?
b. Construct a bar chart to show the distribution of deaths by object struck. Is this display more effective than the pie chart in summarizing this data set? Explain.