a. what type of data is best analyzed using error bars? when both variables are continuous, when independednt variable is categorial, when data is collected through an observation study, or data is visualized through a scatterplot b. what does an error bar show? mode around the mean, mathematical limits of data, distribution of data around the mean, or significance of data within the variation c. what does it mean when an error bar is very long? data is not accurate, data is unreliable, more variation around the mean, less spread around the mean, or researchers were not careful