Which statement best describes the use of a histogram?

• A. To display the distribution of a continuous variable using bars; shows the shape.
• B. To display the distribution of a discrete variable.
• C. To summarize data using a pie chart.
• D. To show the maximum value.

Answer: (A)

Histograms visualize how a continuous variable is distributed across ranges. Each bar represents a bin of values, and the height shows how many observations fall into that bin. By looking at the pattern of bar heights, you can see the distribution’s shape—where data cluster, any skew, and whether there are multiple peaks. This makes the histogram the best way to display the distribution of a continuous variable and its shape. The other descriptions don’t fit: histograms aren’t the standard way to show a distribution for a discrete variable, a pie chart summarizes parts of a whole for categorical data, and a histogram isn’t meant to highlight a single maximum value.