Which technique identifies quality problems by importance and is often represented by an 80/20 distribution?

• A. Regression Analysis
• B. Pareto Analysis
• C. Cost-Benefit Analysis
• D. Scatter Plot

Answer: (B)

Prioritizing quality problems by importance using the Pareto principle is what this question focuses on. Pareto analysis helps you spot the most impactful issues by listing problems from most to least significant and then looking at how much of the total impact they cause. In practice, you collect data on defects or failures, categorize them, and rank categories by frequency or cost. When you chart them, you often see that a small number of causes drive a large share of the problems—the 80/20 idea. This lets teams target the critical few issues that will yield the biggest improvements in quality with the least effort.

Other techniques serve different purposes: regression analysis examines relationships between variables to predict outcomes, scatter plots visualize how two variables relate, and cost-benefit analysis weighs costs and benefits to decide whether an action is worth pursuing.