The Database Environment Questions and Answers

Q: Databases that contain historical and summarized information are usually called data warehouses.

Correct answer: TrueHistorical and summarised data, integrated from several operational sources and organised by subject rather than by application, is exactly what defines a warehouse. It is non-volatile from the user’s side, being loaded rather than updated, which is what makes a consistent view over time possible.

Q: Duplicate data often results in loss of data integrity because:

Correct answer: Both A & B.Duplication threatens integrity in two ways at once. The same fact may be recorded in different formats, so the copies cannot be compared reliably; and one copy may be updated while another is not, so they disagree outright. Removing the duplication removes both problems, which is the central argument for the database approach.

Q: The database approach requires additional costs and risks.

Correct answer: TrueThe approach is not free. It requires specialised staff, new hardware and software, conversion of existing systems, and management commitment; and it concentrates risk, since a failure of the shared database stops everything relying on it. These costs are set against the benefits rather than ignored.

Q: Database management systems were first introduced in the 1950s.

Correct answer: FalseDatabase management systems appeared in the 1960s, with the network and hierarchical products; the relational model was proposed in 1970 and reached commercial products in the late 1970s and 1980s. The 1950s predate them - that decade’s systems were file processing on tape.

Q: A workgroup typically comprises between 25 and 100 persons.

Correct answer: FalseA workgroup is small - conventionally fewer than 25 people - and is defined by working together on a common task rather than by any particular size. The range of 25 to 100 belongs to a departmental database, the next level up in the usual classification.

Q: Stand-alone databases exhibit many of the same advantages common to file processing systems.

Correct answer: FalseStand-alone databases exhibit the disadvantages of file processing, not the advantages: the same data is duplicated across them, definitions diverge, and nothing is shared. That is why a proliferation of personal databases recreates the fragmentation the database approach was meant to cure.

21.

A database management system (DBMS) is a:

A.hardware system used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to a database.
B.hardware system used to create, maintain, and provide uncontrolled access to a database.
C.software system used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to a database.
D.software system used to create, maintain, and provide uncontrolled access to a database.

Answer: C

Correct answer: software system used to create, maintain, and provide controlled access to a database.

Two words carry the definition. It is software, running on ordinary hardware, and its access is controlled - who may see and change what is the DBMS’s responsibility, not the application’s. Uncontrolled access would forfeit the security and integrity that the approach exists to provide.

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22.

Databases that contain historical and summarized information are usually called data warehouses.

A.True
B.False

Answer: A

Correct answer: True

Historical and summarised data, integrated from several operational sources and organised by subject rather than by application, is exactly what defines a warehouse. It is non-volatile from the user’s side, being loaded rather than updated, which is what makes a consistent view over time possible.

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23.

Data administrators are responsible for:

A.physical database design.
B.managing technical issues in the database environment.
C.overall management of data resources in an organization.
D.writing application programs.

Answer: C

Correct answer: overall management of data resources in an organization.

Data administration is a policy and stewardship role - standards, definitions, ownership, quality and the enterprise model. Physical design and technical management belong to database administration, and writing applications to development. The distinction is between governing the data and running the machinery.

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24.

Duplicate data often results in loss of data integrity because:

A.the data formats may be inconsistent.
B.data values may not agree.
C.Both A & B.
D.Neither A & B.

Answer: C

Correct answer: Both A & B.

Duplication threatens integrity in two ways at once. The same fact may be recorded in different formats, so the copies cannot be compared reliably; and one copy may be updated while another is not, so they disagree outright. Removing the duplication removes both problems, which is the central argument for the database approach.

Discuss in Forum

25.

The database approach requires additional costs and risks.

A.True
B.False

Answer: A

Correct answer: True

The approach is not free. It requires specialised staff, new hardware and software, conversion of existing systems, and management commitment; and it concentrates risk, since a failure of the shared database stops everything relying on it. These costs are set against the benefits rather than ignored.

Discuss in Forum

26.

An enterprise database is which of the following?

A.A database designed to support only users external to an organization
B.A database designed to support an entire organization
C.A database designed to support a relatively small group
D.A database designed to support a single PC

Answer: B

Correct answer: A database designed to support an entire organization

An enterprise database serves the organisation as a whole rather than one group within it, which is what makes it valuable and what makes it difficult: the definitions must be agreed across departments that have used different ones, and the availability requirements are those of the whole business.

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27.

Database management systems were first introduced in the 1950s.

A.True
B.False

Answer: B

Correct answer: False

Database management systems appeared in the 1960s, with the network and hierarchical products; the relational model was proposed in 1970 and reached commercial products in the late 1970s and 1980s. The 1950s predate them - that decade’s systems were file processing on tape.

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28.

Legacy data is which of the following?

A.Data contained in a newly-installed system
B.Data rejected during the installation of a new system
C.Data contained in a file system
D.Data contained by a system used prior to the installation of a new system

Answer: D

Correct answer: Data contained by a system used prior to the installation of a new system

Legacy data is what the old system leaves behind, and it is usually the hardest part of a migration: it was recorded under different definitions, with different codes and different quality standards, and it must be understood before it can be converted.

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29.

A workgroup typically comprises between 25 and 100 persons.

A.True
B.False

Answer: B

Correct answer: False

A workgroup is small - conventionally fewer than 25 people - and is defined by working together on a common task rather than by any particular size. The range of 25 to 100 belongs to a departmental database, the next level up in the usual classification.

Discuss in Forum

30.

Stand-alone databases exhibit many of the same advantages common to file processing systems.

A.True
B.False

Answer: B

Correct answer: False

Stand-alone databases exhibit the disadvantages of file processing, not the advantages: the same data is duplicated across them, definitions diverge, and nothing is shared. That is why a proliferation of personal databases recreates the fragmentation the database approach was meant to cure.

Discuss in Forum

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