true/false. write 't' if the statement is true and 'f' if the statement is...
TRANSCRIPT
Exam
Name___________________________________
TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false.
1) A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a complete number is called a record. 1) _______
Answer: True False
2) Each characteristic or quality describing a particular entity is called an attribute. 2) _______
Answer: True False
3) Program-data dependence refers to the coupling of data stored in files and software programs
that use this data such that changes in programs require changes to the data.
3) _______
Answer: True False
4) A bit represents the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. 4) _______
Answer: True False
5) A group of bytes, called a bit, represents a single character, which can be a letter, a number, or
another symbol.
5) _______
Answer: True False
6) A group of related fields, such as a student’s name, the course taken, date, and grade, comprises
a file.
6) _______
Answer: True False
7) A group of records of the same type is called a file. 7) _______
Answer: True False
8) A group of related files makes up a database. 8) _______
Answer: True False
9) Each characteristic or quality describing a particular entity is called an attribute. 9) _______
Answer: True False
10) The use of a traditional approach to file processing encourages each functional area in a
corporation to develop specialized applications.
10) ______
Answer: True False
11) Data redundancy is the presence of duplicate data in multiple data files so that the same data are
stored in more than one place or location.
11) ______
Answer: True False
12) Data inconsistency, is where the same attribute may have different values. 12) ______
Answer: True False
13) Program-data independence refers to the coupling of data stored in files and the specific
programs required to update and maintain those files so that changes in programs require
changes to the data.
13) ______
Answer: True False
14) A traditional file system can deliver routine scheduled reports after extensive programming
efforts, it can also deliver ad hoc reports or respond to unanticipated information requirements
in a
tim
ely
fashion.
14) ______
Answer: True False
15) A more rigorous definition of a database is a collection of data organized to serve many
applications efficiently by centralizing the data and controlling redundant data.
15) ______
Answer: True False
16) A database management system (DBMS) is software that permits an organization to centralize
data, manage them efficiently, and provide access to the stored data by application programs.
16) ______
Answer: True False
17) A DBMS reduces data redundancy and inconsistency by maximizing isolated files in which the
same data are repeated.
17) ______
Answer: True False
18) Microsoft Access is a relational DBMS for desktop systems. 18) ______
Answer: True False
19) Microsoft SQL Server are relational DBMS for large mainframes and mid-range computers. 19) ______
Answer: True False
20) Oracle Database Lite is a DBMS for small handheld computing devices. 20) ______
Answer: True False
21) . Rows are commonly referred to as records, or in technical terms, as tulips. 21) ______
Answer: True False
22) Rows are commonly referred to as records, or in technical terms, as tulips. 22) ______
Answer: True False
23) A DBMS separates the logical and physical views of the data. 23) ______
Answer: True False
24) The select operation creates a subset consisting of columns in a table, permitting the user to create
new tables that contain only the information required.
24) ______
Answer: True False
25) DBMS designed for organizing structured data into rows and columns are not well suited to
handling graphics-based or multimedia applications.
25) ______
Answer: True False
26) An object-oriented DBMS stores the data and procedures that act on those data as objects that
can be automatically retrieved and shared.
26) ______
Answer: True False
27) Most DBMS have a specialized language called a data manipulation language that is used to
add, change, delete, and retrieve the data in the database.
27) ______
Answer: True False
28) The most prominent data manipulation language today is Structured Query Language (SQL). 28) ______
Answer: True False
29) Every record in a file should contain at least one key field. 29) ______
Answer: True False
30) Many applications today require databases that can store and retrieve multimedia. 30) ______
Answer: True False
31) One of the drawbacks to OODBMS are that they cannot work with applets. 31) ______
Answer: True False
32) OODBMS are slower than relational DBMS. 32) ______
Answer: True False
33) A data dictionary is a language associated with a database management system that end users
and programmers use to manipulate data in the database.
33) ______
Answer: True False
34) In a relational database, complex groupings of data must be streamlined to eliminate awkward
many-to-many relationships.
34) ______
Answer: True False
35) A data warehouse may be updated by a legacy system. 35) ______
Answer: True False
36) A data warehouse is typically comprised of several smaller data marts. 36) ______
Answer: True False
37) OLAP is a key tool of BI. 37) ______
Answer: True False
38) OLAP enables users to obtain online answers to ad hoc questions in a fairly rapid amount of
time, except when the data are stored in very large databases.
38) ______
Answer: True False
39) Predictive analysis is synonymous with data mining. 39) ______
Answer: True False
40) In a Web-based database, middleware is used to transfer information from the organization's
internal database back to the Web server for delivery in the form of a Web page to the user.
40) ______
Answer: True False
41) A Web interface requires changes to the internal database. 41) ______
Answer: True False
42) Common Gateway Interface is a specification for processing data on a Web server. 42) ______
Answer: True False
43) Data administration is a special organizational function that manages the policies and
procedures through which data can be managed as an organizational resource.
43) ______
Answer: True False
44) Data cleansing is the same process as data scrubbing. 44) ______
Answer: True False
MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question.
45) Which of the following is NOT one of the main problems with a traditional file environment? 45) ______
A) data inconsistency
B) poor security
C) lack of flexibility in creating ad hoc reports
D) program-data independence
Answer: D
46) A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a complete number (such as a
person’s name or age) is called a ________.
46) ______
A) record B) field C) byte D) bit
Answer: B
47) A ________ represents the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. 47) ______
A) byte B) field C) bit D) record
Answer: C
48) A group of related fields, such as a student’s name, the course taken, date, and grade, comprises
a ________.
48) ______
A) record B) field C) bit D) byte
Answer: A
49) A group of bits, called a ________, represents a single character, which can be a letter, a number,
or another symbol.
49) ______
A) bit B) field C) byte D) record
Answer: C
50) A group of records of the same type is called a ________. 50) ______
A) record B) field C) bit D) file
Answer: D
51) Jane Clark is student at the university. Jane is also employed by the university library. Jane
got married two weeks ago and her new last name is Jones. Jane receives her work cheque in
the mail addressed to Jane Clark but her grades that come in the mail are addressed Jane Jones.
This is an example of ________ of Jane's information.
51) ______
A) data inconsistency B) data sort
C) data bits D) program-data independence
Answer: A
52) Don Gibb works for a large retail chain. Every month he gets reports on the wages in each store
across Canada. He notices that one employee received a 20 percent raise. He calls payroll to
find who put this raise into the traditional file system. He is told that there is no way to know
who entered that raise in the system. This is an example of ________.
52) ______
A) poor security B) lack of data sharing and availability
C) lack of flexibility D) program-data dependence
Answer: A
53) Gord Smith works for a large pizza chain. Every week he gets reports on the sales in each store
across Canada. He sees a problem in one of the stores in Ontario. He wants and ad hoc report
for sales at that store after 9 p.m. on weekdays. He is told that no such report can be created by
the traditional file system. This is an example of ________.
53) ______
A) program-data dependence B) lack of data sharing and availability
C) poor security D) lack of flexibility
Answer: D
54) Darren Pepper works for a large medical clinic. They are running out of 5 digit patient
numbers and they want to expand the patient number to 7 digits. It will cost a great deal of
money to make this switch because three of the clinic's programs will no longer work with this
new number of digits in the patient number. The clinic is using a traditional file system. This
is an example of ________.
54) ______
A) lack of flexibility B) program-data dependence
C) poor security D) lack of data sharing and availability
Answer: B
55) Jess Wilde works for a large law firm. Every week he gets reports on the cases each lawyer in
the firm is working on. He wants to get the files that deal with billing hours for each lawyer
and combine that information with the files on individual cases that each lawyer is working on.
He discovers that information cannot flow freely across different parts of the organization in this
traditional file system. This is an example of ________.
55) ______
A) poor security B) lack of data sharing and availability
C) lack of flexibility D) program-data dependence
Answer: B
56) A government agency wants to analyze their data. Their data consists of e-mail, memos, survey
responses, legal cases, patent descriptions, and service reports. What tools should they use to
analyze their data?
56) ______
A) data mining B) OLAP
C) text mining D) predictive analysis
Answer: C
57) Frito Lay wants to introduce a new flavour of potato chips in Canada. They have a great deal of
data to help them make the decision to introduce this flavour. They plan on using data-mining
techniques, historical data, and assumptions about future conditions to predict outcomes of
introducing the new flavour. What tools should they use to analyze the data?
57) ______
A) text mining B) data mining
C) OLAP D) predictive analysis
Answer: D
58) The Bank of Canada has large amounts of data collected over many years. It wants to get value
from this data. They decide they want to analyze this large amount of data. They don't have
any particular question in mind, they just want to find out if there are any hidden trends in the
data. What tools should they use to analyze the data?
58) ______
A) predictive analysis B) data mining
C) text mining D) OLAP
Answer: B
59) The Giant Hardware Company sells four different products – screws, nails, hammers, and
bolts–in the East, West, and Prairie regions. They want to know how many hammers sold in
each of their sales regions and compare actual results with projected sales. What tools should
they use to analyze the data?
59) ______
A) OLAP B) text mining
C) predictive analysis D) data mining
Answer: A
60) ________ recognizes patterns that describe the group to which an item belongs by examining
existing items that have been classified and by inferring a set of rules.
60) ______
A) Classification B) Associations C) Sequences D) Clustering
Answer: A
61) A DBMS reduces data redundancy and inconsistency by 61) ______
A) minimizing isolated files with repeated data.
B) enforcing referential integrity.
C) utilizing a data dictionary.
D) uncoupling program and data.
Answer: A
62) Which of the following best illustrates the relationship between entities and attributes? 62) ______
A) the entity CUSTOMER with the attribute PRODUCT
B) the entity CUSTOMER with the attribute PURCHASE
C) the entity PRODUCT with the attribute CUSTOMER
D) the entity PRODUCT with the attribute PURCHASE
Answer: B
63) A characteristic or quality describing an entity is called a(n) 63) ______
A) key field. B) field. C) tuple. D) attribute.
Answer: D
64) Which of the following non-digital data storage items is most similar to a database? 64) ______
A) library card catalog. B) doctor's office invoice.
C) cash register receipt. D) list of sales totals on a spreadsheet.
Answer: A
65) The confusion created by ________ makes it difficult for companies to create customer
relationship management, supply chain management, or enterprise systems that integrate data
from different sources.
65) ______
A) data independence B) batch processing
C) online processing D) data redundancy
Answer: D
66) Duplicate data in multiple data files is called data ________. 66) ______
A) partitions B) independence C) redundancy D) repetition
Answer: C
67) A DBMS makes the 67) ______
A) logical database available for different analytical views.
B) relational database available for different physical views.
C) physical database available for different analytical views.
D) physical database available for different logical views.
Answer: D
68) The logical view 68) ______
A) presents data as they would be perceived by end users.
B) presents an entry screen to the user.
C) allows the creation of supplementary reports.
D) shows how data are organized and structured on the storage media.
Answer: A
69) DBMS for midrange computers include all of the following EXCEPT 69) ______
A) Microsoft Access. B) DB2.
C) Microsoft SQL Server. D) Oracle.
Answer: A
70) The type of logical database model that treats data as if they were stored in two-dimensional
tables is the
70) ______
A) OODBMS. B) pre-digital DBMS.
C) hierarchical DBMS. D) relational DBMS.
Answer: D
71) Oracle Database Lite is a(n) 71) ______
A) DBMS for small handheld computing devices.
B) DBMS for midrange computers.
C) Internet DBMS.
D) mainframe relational DBMS.
Answer: A
72) Microsoft SQL Server is a(n) 72) ______
A) DBMS for midrange computers.
B) Internet DBMS.
C) desktop relational DBMS.
D) DBMS for small handheld computing devices.
Answer: A
73) In a table for customers, the information about a single customer would reside in a single 73) ______
A) column. B) table. C) field. D) row.
Answer: D
74) In a relational database, a record is referred to in technical terms as a(n) 74) ______
A) field. B) entity. C) row. D) tuple.
Answer: D
75) A field identified in a table as holding the unique identifier of the table's records is called the 75) ______
A) unique ID. B) key field. C) primary field. D) primary key.
Answer: D
76) In a relational database, the three basic operations used to develop useful sets of data are 76) ______
A) select, project, and where. B) select, from, and join.
C) select, join, and where. D) select, project, and join.
Answer: D
77) The select operation 77) ______
A) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
B) creates a subset consisting of all records in the file that meet stated criteria.
C) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
D) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
Answer: B
78) The join operation 78) ______
A) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
B) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
C) organizes elements into segments.
D) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
Answer: B
79) The project operation 79) ______
A) creates a subset consisting of columns in a table.
B) combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is otherwise
available.
C) identifies the table from which the columns will be selected.
D) organizes elements into segments.
Answer: A
80) Which of the following database types is useful for storing java applets as well as processing
large numbers of transactions?
80) ______
A) OODBMS B) relational DBMS
C) object-relational DBMS D) hierarchical DBMS
Answer: C
81) The type of database management approach that can handle multimedia is the 81) ______
A) object-oriented DBMS. B) relational DBMS.
C) network DBMS. D) hierarchical DBMS.
Answer: A
82) The data dictionary serves as an important data management tool by 82) ______
A) presenting data as end users or business specialists would perceive them.
B) assigning attributes to the data.
C) creating an inventory of data contained in the database.
D) maintaining data in updated form.
Answer: C
83) An automated or manual file that stores information about data elements and data
characteristics such as usage, physical representation, ownership, authorization, and security is
the
83) ______
A) data dictionary. B) relationship dictionary.
C) data definition diagram. D) entity-relationship diagram.
Answer: A
84) The specialized language programmers use to add and change data in the database is called 84) ______
A) a data manipulation language. B) structured Query language.
C) a data access language. D) a data definition language.
Answer: A
85) The most prominent data manipulation language today is 85) ______
A) Access. B) Crystal Reports.
C) SQL. D) DB2.
Answer: C
86) DBMSs typically include report-generating tools in order to 86) ______
A) display data in graphs. B) display data in an easier-to-read format.
C) perform predictive analysis. D) retrieve and display data.
Answer: B
87) The process of streamlining data to minimize redundancy and awkward many-to-many
relationships is called
87) ______
A) data scrubbing. B) normalization. C) data defining. D) data cleansing.
Answer: B
88) A schematic of the entire database that describes the relationships in a database is called a(n) 88) ______
A) entity-relationship diagram. B) data definition diagram.
C) data dictionary. D) intersection relationship diagram.
Answer: A
89) A one-to-one relationship between two entities is symbolized in a diagram by a line that ends
with
89) ______
A) a crow's foot. B) a crow's foot topped by a short mark.
C) two short marks. D) one short mark.
Answer: C
90) A one-to-many relationship between two entities is symbolized in a diagram by a line that ends
with
90) ______
A) two short marks. B) a crow's foot.
C) one short mark. D) a crow's foot topped by a short mark.
Answer: D
91) In what type of a database system is the entire central database duplicated at all remote
locations?
91) ______
A) partitioned B) networked C) normalized D) replicated
Answer: D
92) Which of the following is a main disadvantage to a distributed database system? 92) ______
A) lack of flexibility B) poor responsiveness to local users
C) requires more expensive computers D) susceptibility to data inconsistency
Answer: D
93) A data warehouse is composed of 93) ______
A) historic and current internal data. B) internal and external data sources.
C) historical data from legacy systems. D) current data.
Answer: A
94) A data mart usually can be constructed more rapidly and at lower cost than a data warehouse
because
94) ______
A) all the information is historical.
B) a data mart typically focuses on a single subject area or line of business.
C) all of the information belongs to a single company.
D) a data mart uses a Web interface.
Answer: B
95) Tools for consolidating, analyzing, and providing access to vast amounts of data to help users
make better business decisions are known as
95) ______
A) data mining. B) DSS.
C) OLAP. D) business intelligence.
Answer: D
96) The tool that enables users to view the same data in different ways using multiple dimensions is 96) ______
A) predictive analysis. B) OLAP.
C) data mining. D) SQL.
Answer: B
97) OLAP is a tool for enabling 97) ______
A) users to obtain online answers to ad hoc questions in a rapid amount of time.
B) users to view both logical and physical views of data.
C) programmers to normalize data.
D) programmers to quickly diagram data relationships.
Answer: A
98) Data mining is a tool for allowing users to 98) ______
A) summarize massive amounts of data into much smaller, traditional reports.
B) obtain online answers to ad hoc questions in a rapid amount of time.
C) quickly compare transaction data gathered over many years.
D) find hidden relationships in data.
Answer: D
99) In terms of data relationships, associations refers to 99) ______
A) patterns that describe a group to which an item belongs.
B) events linked over time.
C) occurrences linked to a single event.
D) undiscovered groupings.
Answer: C
100) ________ tools are used to analyze large unstructured data sets, such as e-mail, memos, survey
responses, etc., to discover patterns and relationships.
100) _____
A) Text mining B) OLAP
C) Web content mining D) Web mining
Answer: A
101) An alternative to using application server software for interfacing between a Web server and
back-end databases is
101) _____
A) CGI. B) SQL. C) HTML. D) Java.
Answer: A
102) The organization's rules for sharing, disseminating, acquiring, standardizing, classifying, and
inventorying information is called a(n)
102) _____
A) data definition file. B) information policy.
C) data quality audit. D) data governance policy.
Answer: B
103) The special organizational function whose responsibilities include the technical and operational
aspects of managing data, including physical database design and maintenance, is called
103) _____
A) information policy administration. B) data auditing.
C) database administration. D) data administration.
Answer: C
104) Which common database challenge is illustrated by the text's discussion of receiving multiple
pieces of the same direct mail advertising?
104) _____
A) data accuracy B) data redundancy
C) data inconsistency D) data normalization
Answer: C
105) Detecting and correcting data in a database or file that are incorrect, incomplete, improperly
formatted, or redundant is called
105) _____
A) data auditing. B) data optimization.
C) data scrubbing. D) defragmentation.
Answer: C
106) As discussed in the Interactive Session: Technology, what problem was MySpace facing in its
data management?
106) _____
A) scalability B) program-data dependence
C) data redundancy D) data quality
Answer: A
107) Data cleansing not only corrects errors but also 107) _____
A) establishes logical relationships between data.
B) normalizes data.
C) structures data.
D) enforces consistency among different sets of data.
Answer: D
108) Which of the following is NOT a method for performing a data quality audit? 108) _____
A) surveying entire data files
B) surveying data definition and query files
C) surveying end users about their perceptions of data quality
D) surveying samples from data files
Answer: B
SHORT ANSWER. Write the word or phrase that best completes each statement or answers the question.
109) Databases record information about general categories of information referred to as
________.
109) ____________
Answer: entities
110) A grouping of characters into a word, a group of words, or a complete number (such as
a person’s name or age) is called a ________.
110) ____________
Answer: field
111) A ________ represents the smallest unit of data a computer can handle. 111) ____________
Answer: bit
112) A ________ , represents a single character, which can be a letter, a number, or another
symbol.
112) ____________
Answer: byte
113) A group of related fields, such as a student’s name, the course taken, date, and grade,
comprises a ________.
113) ____________
Answer: record
114) A group of records of the same type is called a ________. 114) ____________
Answer: record
115) A group of related files makes up a ________. 115) ____________
Answer: database
116) An ________ is a person, place, thing, or event about which we store and maintain 116) ____________
Answer: entity
117) The use of a ________ approach to file processing encourages each functional area in a
corporation to develop specialized applications.
117) ____________
Answer: traditional
118) ________ is the presence of duplicate data in multiple data files so that the same data are
stored in more than one place or location.
118) ____________
Answer: Data redundancy
119) ________, is where the same attribute may have different values. 119) ____________
Answer: Data inconsistency
120) ________ refers to the coupling of data stored in files and the specific programs required
to update and maintain those files so that changes in programs require changes to the
data.
120) ____________
Answer: Program-data dependence
121) Because pieces of information in different files and different parts of the organization
cannot be ________ to one another, it is virtually impossible for information to be shared
or accessed in a timely manner.
121) ____________
Answer: related
122) A more rigorous definition of a ________ is a collection of data organized to serve many
applications efficiently by centralizing the data and controlling redundant data.
122) ____________
Answer: database
123) A ________ is software that permits an organization to centralize data, manage them
efficiently, and provide access to the stored data by application programs.
123) ____________
Answer: database management system (DBMS)
124) A DBMS ________ data redundancy and inconsistency by minimizing isolated files in
which the same data are repeated.
124) ____________
Answer: reduces
125) Microsoft Access is a relational DBMS for ________ systems. 125) ____________
Answer: desktop
126) Microsoft SQL Server are ________ DBMS for large mainframes and mid-range
computers.
126) ____________
Answer: relational
127) Oracle Database Lite is a DBMS for small ________ computing devices. 127) ____________
Answer: handheld
128) A ________ is a field in a record that uniquely identifies instances of that record so that it
can be retrieved, updated, or sorted.
128) ____________
Answer: key field
129) A ________ is a field in a database table that enables users to find related information in
another database table.
129) ____________
Answer: foreign key
130) The ________ operation combines relational tables to provide the user with more
information than is available in individual tables.
130) ____________
Answer: join
131) The ________ operation creates a subset consisting of all records in the file that meet
stated criteria.
131) ____________
Answer: select
132) The ________ operation creates a subset consisting of columns in a table, permitting the
user to create new tables that contain only the information required.
132) ____________
Answer: project
133) An ________ stores the data and procedures that act on those data as objects that can be
automatically retrieved and shared.
133) ____________
Answer: object-oriented DBMS
134) A DBMS includes capabilities and tools for ________, managing, and accessing the data
in the database.
134) ____________
Answer: organizing
135) Most DBMS have a specialized language called a ________ that is used to add, change,
delete, and retrieve the data in the database.
135) ____________
Answer: data manipulation language
136) The most prominent data manipulation language today is ________. 136) ____________
Answer: Structured Query Language
137) Microsoft Access has a rudimentary ________ capability that displays information about
the size, format, and other characteristics of each field in a database.
137) ____________
Answer: data dictionary
138) Microsoft Access and other DBMS include capabilities for ________ so that the data of
interest can be displayed in a more structured and polished format.
138) ____________
Answer: report generation
139) The ________ database design describes how the data elements in the database are to be
grouped.
139) ____________
Answer: conceptual
140) The process of creating small, stable, yet flexible and adaptive data structures from
complex groups of data is called ________.
140) ____________
Answer: normalization
141) Database designers document their data model with ________. 141) ____________
Answer: entity-relationship diagrams
142) A line connecting two entities that ends in two short marks designates a ________
relationship
142) ____________
Answer: one-to-one
143) A ________ is a database that stores current and historical data of potential interest to
decision makers throughout the company.
143) ____________
Answer: data warehouse
144) The data warehouse makes the data available for anyone to access as needed, but it
cannot be ________.
144) ____________
Answer: altered
145) A data warehouse system also provides a range of ad hoc and standardized query tools,
________ tools, and graphical reporting facilities.
145) ____________
Answer: analytical
146) A ________ is a subset of a data warehouse in which a summarized or highly focused
portion of the organization’s data is placed in a separate database for a specific
population of users.
146) ____________
Answer: data mart
147) ________ are applications and technologies to help users make better business
decisions.
147) ____________
Answer: Business intelligence
148) Data ________ describes a situation in which the same attribute of a data entity may
have different values.
148) ____________
Answer: inconsistency
149) A(n) ________ view shows data as it is actually organized and structured on the data
storage media.
149) ____________
Answer: physical
150) DBMS have a(n) ________ capability to specify the structure of the content of the
database.
150) ____________
Answer: data definition
151) RDBMSs use ________ rules to ensure that relationships between coupled tables remain
consistent.
151) ____________
Answer: referential integrity
152) A(n) ________ database is one that is stored in more than one physical location. 152) ____________
Answer: distributed
153) In ________, a data mining tool discovers different groupings within data, such as
finding affinity groups for bank cards.
153) ____________
Answer: clustering
154) The discovery and analysis of useful patterns and information from hypertext
documents on the Internet is called ________.
154) ____________
Answer: Web mining
155) A(n) ________ is software that handles all application operations between browser-based
computers and a company's back-end business applications or databases.
155) ____________
Answer: application server
156) ________ are the formal rules governing the maintenance, distribution, and use of
information in an organization.
156) ____________
Answer: Information policies
ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper.
157) The small publishing company you work for wants to create a new database for storing information about all
of their author contracts. What factors will influence how you design the database?
Answer: Student answers will vary, but should include some assessment of data quality; business processes
and user needs; and relationship to existing IT systems. Key points to include are:
Data accuracy when the new data is input, establishing a good data model, determining which
data is important and anticipating what the possible uses for the data will be, beyond looking up
contract information, technical difficulties linking this system to existing systems, new business
processes for data input and handling, and contracts management, determining how end users will
use the data, making data definitions consistent with other databases, what methods to use to cleanse
the data.
158) When you design the new contracts database for the publishing house mentioned above, what fields do you
anticipate needing? Which of these fields might be in use in other databases used by the company?
Answer: Author first name, author last name, author address, agent name and address, title of book, book
ISBN, date of contract, amount of money, payment schedule, date contract ends.
Other databases might be an author database (author names, address, and agent details), a
book title database (title and ISBN of book), and financial database (payments made).
159) List at least three conditions that contribute to data redundancy and inconsistency.
Answer: Data redundancy occurs when different divisions, functional areas, and groups in an organization
independently collect the same piece of information. Because it is collected and maintained in so many
different places, the same data item may have: (1) different meanings in different parts of the
organization, (2) different names may be used for the same item, and (3) different descriptions for the
same condition. In addition, the fields into which the data is gathered may have different field names,
different attributes, or different constraints.
160) List and describe three main capabilities or tools of a DBMS.
Answer: A d a t a
d e f i n i
t i o n
c a p a b i
l i t y t o
s p e c i f
y t h e
s t r u c t
u r e o f
t h e
c o n t e n
t o f t h e
d a t a b a
s e .
T
h
i
s
c
a
p
a
b
i
l
i
t
y
w
o
u
l
d
b
e
u
s e d t o
c r e a t e
d a t a b a
s e
t a b l e s
a n d t o
d e f i n e
t h e
c h a r a c
t e r i s t
i c s o f
t h e
f i e l d s
i n e a c h
t a b l e .
A data dictionary to store definitions of data elements in the database and their characteristics.
In large corporate databases, the data dictionary may capture additional information, such as usage;
ownership; authorization; security; and the individuals, business functions, programs, and reports that
use each data element.
A data manipulation language, such as SQL, that is used to add, change, delete, and retrieve
the data in the database. This language contains commands that permit end users and programming
specialists to extract data from the database to satisfy information requests and develop applications.
161) What types of relationships are possible in a relational database? Describe and give an example of each.
Answer: A one-to-one relationship occurs when each record in one table has only one related record in a second
table. An example might be a table of salespeople and a separate table of company cars. Each
salesperson can only have one car, or be related to the one car in the database.
A one-to-many relationship occurs when a record in one table has many related records in a
second table. An example might be a table of salespeople and clients. Each salesperson may have
several clients.
A many-to-many relationship occurs when records in one table have many related records in a
second table, and the records in the second table have many related records in the first table. An
example might be a clients table and a products table. Clients may buy more than one product, and
products are sold to more than one client.
162) Identify and describe three basic operations used to extract useful sets of data from a relational database.
Answer: The select operation creates a subset consisting of all records (rows) in the table that meets stated
criteria. The join operation combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than
is available in individual tables. The project operation creates a subset consisting of columns in a table,
permitting the user to create new tables that contain only the information required.
163) Describe the ways in which database technologies could be used by an office stationery supply company to
achieve low-cost leadership.
Answer: S a l e s
d a t a b a
s e s
c o u l d
b e u s e d
t o m a k e
t h e
s u p p l y
c h a i n
m
o
r
e
e
f
f
i
c
i
e
n
t
a
n
d
m
i
n
i
m
i
z
e
w
a
r
e
h
o
u
s
i
n
g
a
n
d
t
r
a
n
s
p
o
r
t
a
t
i
o
n
c o s t s .
Y o u c a n
a l s o
u s e
s a l e s
d a t a b a
s e s t o
d e t e r m
i n e
w h a t
s u p p l i
e s a r e
i n
d e m a n d
b y
w h i c h
c u s t o m
e r s ,
a n d
w h e t h e
r n e e d s
a r e
d i f f e r
e n t i n
d i f f e r
e n t
g e o g r a
p h i c a l
a r e a s .
D S S
d a t a b a
s e s
u s i n g
b u s i n e
s s
i n t e l l
i g e n c e
c o u l d
b e u s e d
t o
p r e d i c
t
f u t u r e
t r e n d s
i n
o f f i c e
s u p p l y
n e e d s ,
t o h e l p
a n t i c i
p a t e
d e m a n d
,
a
n
d
t
o
d
e
t
e
r
m
i n e t h e
m o s t
e f f i c i
e n t
m e t h o d
s o f
t r a n s p
o r t a t i
o n a n d
d e l i v e
r y .
164) Describe the ways in which database technologies could be used by an office stationery supply company to
achieve product differentiation.
Answer: Product databases could be made available to customers for greater convenience when ordering
online. Databases could be used to track customer preferences and to help anticipate customer desires.
Sales databases could also help a client anticipate when they would need to re-supply, providing an
additional service. Data mining could help anticipate trends in sales or other factors to help determine
new services and products to sell to the clients.
165) What makes data mining an important business tool? What types of information does data mining produce?
In what type of circumstance would you advise a company to use data mining?
Answer: Data mining is one of the data analysis tools that helps users make better business decisions and is one
of the key tools of business intelligence. Data mining allows users to analyze large amounts of data
and find hidden relationships between data that otherwise would not be discovered. For example,
data mining might find that a customer that buys product X is ten times more likely to buy product Y
than other customers.
Data mining finds information such as:
• Associations or occurrences that are linked to a single event.
• Sequences, events that are linked over time.
• Classification, patterns that describe the group to which an item belongs, found by examining
existing items that have been classified and by inferring a set of rules.
• Clusters, unclassified but related groups.
I would advise a company to use data mining when they are looking for new products and
services, or when they are looking for new marketing techniques or new markets. Data mining might
also be helpful when trying to analyze unanticipated problems with sales whose causes are difficult to
identify.
166) What are the differences between data mining and OLAP? When would you advise a company to use
OLAP?
Answer: Data mining uncovers hidden relationships and is used when you are trying to discover data and new
relationships. It is used to answer questions such as: Are there any product sales that are related in
time to other product sales?
In contrast, OLAP is used to analyze multiple dimensions of data and is used to find answers
to complex, but known, questions, such as: What were sales of a product broken down by month and
geographical region, and how did those sales compare to sales forecasts?
167) Jill started a paint store 12 years ago. She put in a traditional file system to meet her marketing needs when
she started her business. Two years later she put in a traditional file system to take care of accounting and
operations. Just three years ago they put in another system to handle marketing and CRM. Jill is looking
at installing another traditional file system this year to handle purchasing and SCM. Jill has been reading
that
perhaps
they should be using a DBMS instead of these individual traditional file systems. How would you advise
her and why?
Answer: Traditional file management techniques make it difficult for organizations to keep track of all of the
pieces of data they use in a systematic way and to organize these data so that they can be easily
accessed. Different functional areas and groups were allowed to develop their own files
independently. Over time, this traditional file management environment creates problems such as
data redundancy and inconsistency, program-data dependence, inflexibility, poor security, and lack of
data sharing and availability. A database management system (DBMS) solves these problems with
software that permits centralization of data and data management so that businesses have a single
consistent source for all their data needs. Using a DBMS minimizes redundant and inconsistent files.
168) Susan is putting in a new DBMS in her fashion design business. She wants to do this right. She has asked
you to outline some important principles of database design. How would you advise her and why?
Answer: Designing a database requires both a logical design and a physical design. The logical design models
the database from a business perspective. The organization’s data model should reflect its key
business processes and decision-making requirements. The process of creating small, stable, flexible,
and adaptive data structures from complex groups of data when designing a relational database is
termed normalization. A well-designed relational database will not have many-to-many relationships,
and all attributes for a specific entity will apply only to that entity. It will try to enforce referential
integrity rules to ensure that relationships between linked tables remain consistent. An
entity-relationship diagram (ERD) graphically depicts the relationship between entities (tables) in a
relational database. Database design also considers whether a complete database or portions of the
database can be distributed to more than one location to increase responsiveness and reduce
vulnerability and costs. There are two major types of distributed databases: replicated databases and
partitioned databases.
169) Helen just wants to design and implement a DBMS in her organization. She is very technical and has a
great aptitude for this type of work. Her outside consultant is telling her that she must make some
management decisions about information policy and data quality assurance because they are essential in
managing the firm's resources. How would you advise her and why?
Answer: Developing a database environment requires policies and procedures for managing organizational
data as well as a good data model and database technology. A formal information policy governs the
maintenance, distribution, and use of information in the organization. In large corporations, a formal
data administration function is responsible for information policy, as well as for data planning, data
dictionary development, and monitoring data usage in the firm. Data that are inaccurate, incomplete,
or inconsistent create serious operational and financial problems for businesses because they may
create inaccuracies in product pricing, customer accounts, and inventory data, and lead to inaccurate
decisions about the actions that should be taken by the firm. Firms must take special steps to make
sure they have a high level of data quality. These include using enterprise-wide data standards,
databases designed to minimize inconsistent and redundant data, data quality audits, and data
cleansing software.
1) FALSE
2) TRUE
3) TRUE
4) TRUE
5) FALSE
6) FALSE
7) TRUE
8) TRUE
9) TRUE
10) TRUE
11) TRUE
12) TRUE
13) FALSE
14) FALSE
15) TRUE
16) TRUE
17) FALSE
18) TRUE
19) TRUE
20) TRUE
21) FALSE
22) FALSE
23) TRUE
24) FALSE
25) TRUE
26) TRUE
27) TRUE
28) TRUE
29) TRUE
30) TRUE
31) FALSE
32) TRUE
33) FALSE
34) TRUE
35) TRUE
36) FALSE
37) TRUE
38) FALSE
39) FALSE
40) TRUE
41) FALSE
42) TRUE
43) TRUE
44) TRUE
45) D
46) B
47) C
48) A
49) C
50) D
51) A
52) A
53) D
54) B
55) B
56) C
57) D
58) B
59) A
60) A
61) A
62) B
63) D
64) A
65) D
66) C
67) D
68) A
69) A
70) D
71) A
72) A
73) D
74) D
75) D
76) D
77) B
78) B
79) A
80) C
81) A
82) C
83) A
84) A
85) C
86) B
87) B
88) A
89) C
90) D
91) D
92) D
93) A
94) B
95) D
96) B
97) A
98) D
99) C
100) A
101) A
102) B
103) C
104) C
105) C
106) A
107) D
108) B
109) entities
110) field
111) bit
112) byte
113) record
114) record
115) database
116) entity
117) traditional
118) Data redundancy
119) Data inconsistency
120) Program-data dependence
121) related
122) database
123) database management system (DBMS)
124) reduces
125) desktop
126) relational
127) handheld
128) key field
129) foreign key
130) join
131) select
132) project
133) object-oriented DBMS
134) organizing
135) data manipulation language
136) Structured Query Language
137) data dictionary
138) report generation
139) conceptual
140) normalization
141) entity-relationship diagrams
142) one-to-one
143) data warehouse
144) altered
145) analytical
146) data mart
147) Business intelligence
148) inconsistency
149) physical
150) data definition
151) referential integrity
152) distributed
153) clustering
154) Web mining
155) application server
156) Information policies
157) Student answers will vary, but should include some assessment of data quality; business processes and user needs;
and relationship to existing IT systems. Key points to include are:
Data accuracy when the new data is input, establishing a good data model, determining which data is
important and anticipating what the possible uses for the data will be, beyond looking up contract information,
technical difficulties linking this system to existing systems, new business processes for data input and handling,
and contracts management, determining how end users will use the data, making data definitions consistent with
other databases, what methods to use to cleanse the data.
158) Author first name, author last name, author address, agent name and address, title of book, book ISBN, date of
contract, amount of money, payment schedule, date contract ends.
Other databases might be an author database (author names, address, and agent details), a book title
database (title and ISBN of book), and financial database (payments made).
159) Data redundancy occurs when different divisions, functional areas, and groups in an organization independently
collect the same piece of information. Because it is collected and maintained in so many different places, the same
data item may have: (1) different meanings in different parts of the organization, (2) different names may be used
for the same item, and (3) different descriptions for the same condition. In addition, the fields into which the data is
gathered may have different field names, different attributes, or different constraints.
160) A d a t a
d e f i n i t
i o n
c a p a b i l
i t y t o
s p e c i f y
t h e
s t r u c t u
r e o f t h e
c o n t e n t
o f t h e
d a t a b a s
e . T h i s
c a p a b i l
i t y
w o u l d b e
u s e d t o
c r e a t e
d a t a b a s
e t a b l e s
a n d t o
d e f i n e
t h e
c h a r a c t
e r i s t i c
s o f t h e
f i e l d s
i n e a c h
t a b l e .
A data dictionary to store definitions of data elements in the database and their characteristics. In large
corporate databases, the data dictionary may capture additional information, such as usage; ownership;
authorization; security; and the individuals, business functions, programs, and reports that use each data element.
A data manipulation language, such as SQL, that is used to add, change, delete, and retrieve the data in the
database. This language contains commands that permit end users and programming specialists to extract data
from the database to satisfy information requests and develop applications.
161) A one-to-one relationship occurs when each record in one table has only one related record in a second table. An
example might be a table of salespeople and a separate table of company cars. Each salesperson can only have one
car, or be related to the one car in the database.
A one-to-many relationship occurs when a record in one table has many related records in a second table.
An example might be a table of salespeople and clients. Each salesperson may have several clients.
A many-to-many relationship occurs when records in one table have many related records in a second
table, and the records in the second table have many related records in the first table. An example might be a clients
table and a products table. Clients may buy more than one product, and products are sold to more than one client.
162) The select operation creates a subset consisting of all records (rows) in the table that meets stated criteria. The join
operation combines relational tables to provide the user with more information than is available in individual
tables. The project operation creates a subset consisting of columns in a table, permitting the user to create new
tables that contain only the information required.
163) S a l e s
d a t a b a s
e s c o u l d
b e u s e d
t o m a k e
t h e
s u p p l y
c h a i n
m o r e
e f f i c i e
n t a n d
m i n i m i z
e
w a r e h o u
s i n g a n d
t r a n s p o
r t a t i o n
c o s t s .
Y o u c a n
a l s o u s e
s a l e s
d a t a b a s
e s t o
d e t e r m i
n e w h a t
s u p p l i e
s a r e i n
d e m a n d
b y w h i c h
c u s t o m e
r s , a n d
w h e t h e r
n e e d s
a r e
d i f f e r e
n t i n
d i f f e r e
n t
g e o g r a p
h i c a l
a
r
e
a
s
.
D
S
S
d
a
t
a
b
a
s
e
s
u
s
i
n
g
b
u
s i n e s s
i n t e l l i
g e n c e
c o u l d b e
u s e d t o
p r e d i c t
f u t u r e
t r e n d s
i n
o f f i c e
s u p p l y
n e e d s ,
t o h e l p
a n t i c i p
a t e
d e m a n d ,
a n d t o
d e t e r m i
n e t h e
m o s t
e f f i c i e
n t
m e t h o d s
o f
t r a n s p o
r t a t i o n
a n d
d e l i v e r
y .
164) Product databases could be made available to customers for greater convenience when ordering online. Databases
could be used to track customer preferences and to help anticipate customer desires. Sales databases could also help
a client anticipate when they would need to re-supply, providing an additional service. Data mining could help
anticipate trends in sales or other factors to help determine new services and products to sell to the clients.
165) Data mining is one of the data analysis tools that helps users make better business decisions and is one of the key
tools of business intelligence. Data mining allows users to analyze large amounts of data and find hidden
relationships between data that otherwise would not be discovered. For example, data mining might find that a
customer that buys product X is ten times more likely to buy product Y than other customers.
Data mining finds information such as:
• Associations or occurrences that are linked to a single event.
• Sequences, events that are linked over time.
• Classification, patterns that describe the group to which an item belongs, found by examining existing items
that have been classified and by inferring a set of rules.
• Clusters, unclassified but related groups.
I would advise a company to use data mining when they are looking for new products and services, or when
they are looking for new marketing techniques or new markets. Data mining might also be helpful when trying to
analyze unanticipated problems with sales whose causes are difficult to identify.
166) Data mining uncovers hidden relationships and is used when you are trying to discover data and new
relationships. It is used to answer questions such as: Are there any product sales that are related in time to other
product sales?
In contrast, OLAP is used to analyze multiple dimensions of data and is used to find answers to complex,
but known, questions, such as: What were sales of a product broken down by month and geographical region, and
how did those sales compare to sales forecasts?
167) Traditional file management techniques make it difficult for organizations to keep track of all of the pieces of data
they use in a systematic way and to organize these data so that they can be easily accessed. Different functional
areas and groups were allowed to develop their own files independently. Over time, this traditional file
management environment creates problems such as data redundancy and inconsistency, program-data
dependence, inflexibility, poor security, and lack of data sharing and availability. A database management system
(DBMS) solves these problems with software that permits centralization of data and data management so that
businesses have a single consistent source for all their data needs. Using a DBMS minimizes redundant and
inconsistent files.
168) Designing a database requires both a logical design and a physical design. The logical design models the database
from a business perspective. The organization’s data model should reflect its key business processes and
decision-making requirements. The process of creating small, stable, flexible, and adaptive data structures from
complex groups of data when designing a relational database is termed normalization. A well-designed relational
database will not have many-to-many relationships, and all attributes for a specific entity will apply only to that
entity. It will try to enforce referential integrity rules to ensure that relationships between linked tables remain
consistent. An entity-relationship diagram (ERD) graphically depicts the relationship between entities (tables) in a
relational database. Database design also considers whether a complete database or portions of the database can be
distributed to more than one location to increase responsiveness and reduce vulnerability and costs. There are two
major types of distributed databases: replicated databases and partitioned databases.
169) Developing a database environment requires policies and procedures for managing organizational data as well as a
good data model and database technology. A formal information policy governs the maintenance, distribution, and
use of information in the organization. In large corporations, a formal data administration function is responsible
for information policy, as well as for data planning, data dictionary development, and monitoring data usage in the
firm. Data that are inaccurate, incomplete, or inconsistent create serious operational and financial problems for
businesses because they may create inaccuracies in product pricing, customer accounts, and inventory data, and
lead to inaccurate decisions about the actions that should be taken by the firm. Firms must take special steps to
make sure they have a high level of data quality. These include using enterprise-wide data standards, databases
designed to minimize inconsistent and redundant data, data quality audits, and data cleansing software.