Albany State University

MGMT 4206

Chapter 3: The Database Management System Concept Multiple Choice

1)In an automobile manufacturing company, an object about which we might want to maintain data could be any of the following, except          .

1. 1. an employee
   2. a finished car
   3. a length
   4. a supplier
   5. a sales meeting

2. A single piece of data is                   the business environment.
   1. a fact about
   2. a record describing an object in
   3. the same thing as an object in
   4. a file describing an object in
   5. an event in

3. An entity is                 in the business environment.
   1. a fact about an object
   2. a record in a file
   3. an object or event
   4. an attribute
   5. a file

4. An entity set is                .
   1. a file
   2. a collection of records of the same type
   3. all of the attributes in a record
   4. a collection of characteristics of an entity
   5. a collection of entities of the same type

5. An attribute is                .
   1. a collection of objects of the same type
   2. a characteristic of an entity
   3. a record of a file
   4. a collection of records of the same type
   5. an event

6. Which of the following is a description of a particular entity?
   1. field
   2. key
   3. record type
   4. record occurrence
   5. file

7. Which of the following is a collection of descriptions of the entities in an entity set?
   1. field
   2. key
   3. record type
   4. record occurrence
   5. file

8. Which of the following is the unique identifier of an entity?
   1. field
   2. key
   3. record type
   4. record occurrence
   5. file

Course

Number                                Course Name Number of Credits Professor

in Charge

9. How many entities are described in the Course file?

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 5

10. In the Course file, the string “ENGL2540 Shakespeare 3 Duncan” can best be described as a                            .
    1. field
    2. record type
    3. record occurrence
    4. entity
    5. entity set

11. In the Course file, the string “Anatomy” can best be described as a                       .
    1. field type
    2. field occurrence
    3. record type
    4. record occurrence
    5. entity

12. Each of the following is one of the fundamental operations that can be performed on stored data, except                             .
    1. converge
    2. retrieve
    3. insert
    4. delete
    5. update

13. Which of the following does not change the contents of a file?
    1. retrieve
    2. insert
    3. delete
    4. update
    5. all of the above

14. Retrieving the records of a file in order based on a set of field values is referred to as                         .
    1. immediate sequential retrieval
    2. logical sequential retrieval
    3. physical sequential retrieval
    4. direct retrieval
    5. indirect retrieval

15. Retrieving the records of a file in order based on the order in which they are stored on a disk is referred to as               .
    1. immediate sequential retrieval
    2. logical sequential retrieval
    3. physical sequential retrieval
    4. direct retrieval
    5. indirect retrieval

16. Retrieving a single record of a file based on a field value is an example of                        .
    1. immediate sequential retrieval
    2. logical sequential retrieval
    3. physical sequential retrieval
    4. direct retrieval
    5. indirect retrieval

17. Retrieving a subset of the records of a file based on a field value is an example of                         .
    1. immediate sequential retrieval
    2. logical sequential retrieval
    3. physical sequential retrieval
    4. direct retrieval
    5. indirect retrieval

18. Prior to the development of the database concept, redundant data                    .
    1. could be found within individual files
    2. could be found across multiple files
    3. could be found across multiple files but not within individual files
    4. a & b
    5. did not exist

19. Prior to the development of the database concept                   .
    1. data was regularly shared among applications
    2. data redundancy was not a problem
    3. changes in the way that data was stored did not affect programs that used the data
    4. data security was not an issue
    5. data was not regularly shared among applications

20. All of the following are basic principles of the database concept, except                        .
    1. maintaining redundant data that does not cause data integrity problems
    2. the ability to store data in a non-redundant fashion

1. 3. the ability to store data representing entities involved in multiple relationships
   4. striving to achieve a high degree of data independence
   5. data integration

21. Which of the following is a basic principle of the database concept?
    1. The ability to achieve data integration with redundant data.
    2. The ability to achieve data integration without introducing redundant data.
    3. The establishment of an environment that permits a high degree of data dependence.
    4. The establishment of an environment that permits data redundancy in return for data security controls.
    5. The establishment of an environment that permits data redundancy in return for backup and recovery controls.

22. All of the following are corporate resources, except                     .
    1. money
    2. inventory
    3. data
    4. plant and equipment
    5. competitors

23. Data integration                 .
    1. refers to the compatibility between data and the hardware on which it is stored
    2. is the ability to tie together pieces of related data in an information system
    3. is the ease with which data can be accessed by an application program that requires it
    4. refers to the linkage between data and its related information
    5. is undesirable in any information system

24. Which of the following is true?
    1. Data integration is desirable but data redundancy is not.
    2. Data redundancy is desirable but data integration is not.
    3. Both data integration and data redundancy are desirable.
    4. Neither data integration nor data redundancy is desirable.

1. 5. None of the above.

25. Data redundancy                 .
    1. can occur across multiple files but not within a single file
    2. can occur within a single file but not across multiple files
    3. is a positive feature in the simple linear file environment but is a negative feature in the database environment
    4. is a negative feature in the simple linear file environment but is a positive feature in the database environment
    5. None of the above.

26. All of the following are problems caused by redundant data, except                       .
    1. wasted disk space
    2. additional processing time for data updates
    3. wasted network transmission time
    4. potential data integrity problems
    5. the possibility of having what should be the same data value in two different files having different values.

27. All of the following are true about data redundancy across multiple files, except                         .
    1. it speeds updates when the redundant data must be updated
    2. it is a managerial problem when the company does not encourage data sharing
    3. it is a technical problem when the company’s software systems do not support data sharing
    4. it wastes disk space
    5. it can potentially cause data integrity problems

28. Which of the following is true about data redundancy within one file?
    1. The appearance of a particular data value multiple times in one field always indicates data redundancy.
    2. Data redundancy cannot occur within a single file.
    3. The problems caused by data redundancy within one file are substantially different from the problems caused by data redundancy across multiple files.

1. 4. Data redundancy within one file occurs when different kinds of data (data about different entities) are merged in one file.
   5. Data redundancy within one file only occurs when a single kind of data (data about a single entity) is present in the file.

29. When different kinds of data (data about different entities) are merged in one file, a deletion anomaly

             .

1. 1. cannot occur
   2. causes a loss of data that may not be stored anywhere else
   3. is helpful in reducing the amount of redundant data present
   4. causes additional redundant data to appear
   5. occurs as the result of an insertion anomaly

30. When different kinds of data (data about different entities) are merged in one file, which of the following anomalies can occur?
    1. deletion but not insertion or update
    2. insertion but not deletion or update
    3. insertion and deletion but not update
    4. insertion and update but not deletion
    5. deletion, insertion, and update

31. By definition, a database management system                    .
    1. permits data to be stored non-redundantly but does not provide for data integration
    2. provides for data integration but does not permit the data to be stored non-redundantly
    3. permits data to be stored non-redundantly and provides for data integration
    4. does not permit data to be stored non-redundantly and also does not provide for data integration
    5. provides for data integration only when the data is stored redundantly

32. A database management system is designed to handle                      relationships without introducing data redundancy or causing other problems.
    1. unary, binary, and ternary

1. 2. binary but not unary or ternary
   3. unary but not binary or ternary
   4. unary and binary but not ternary
   5. binary and ternary but not unary

33. Regarding the three data control issues of security, backup and recovery, and concurrency, a database management system                .
    1. should expect each application programmer to handle them
    2. should expect the operating system to handle them
    3. should expect each systems analyst to handle them
    4. should be responsible for handling all of them
    5. should not be responsible for handling any of them

34. Problems caused by two or more users trying to update the same data simultaneously fall primarily under the heading of                 .
    1. computer security
    2. backup and recovery
    3. concurrency control
    4. integration control
    5. access control

35. Rebuilding a database after it is destroyed by a natural disaster is an aspect of                         .
    1. computer security
    2. backup and recovery
    3. concurrency control
    4. integration control
    5. access control

36. Protecting against hackers is primarily a matter of                      .
    1. computer security
    2. backup and recovery

1. 3. concurrency control
   4. integration control
   5. access control

37. When data structures can be modified without affecting the programs that use the data, we say that the environment is highly                  .
    1. secure
    2. recoverable
    3. data structured
    4. data independent
    5. data dependent

38. All of the following are major DBMS approaches, except                      .
    1. network
    2. index
    3. object-oriented
    4. relational
    5. hierarchical

39. The navigational approaches to database management are                       .
    1. relational and object-oriented
    2. hierarchical and object-oriented
    3. hierarchical and network
    4. relational and network
    5. network and object-oriented

40. The DBMS approach in primary use today is                     .
    1. hierarchical
    2. network
    3. relational
    4. object-oriented

1. 5. none of the above

True/False

1. A single piece of data is a fact about something of interest to us in our business environment.

2. An entity is the set of facts in a record.

3. An attribute is an entity.

4. An example of an entity set would be all of the cars for sale at an automobile dealership.

5. An attribute of the records of a file that has unique values can be referred to as the key field.

6. A file is a collection of records of the same structure.

7. A simple linear file is structured in a tree-like manner.

8. The term record occurrence refers to one particular record in a file.

9. A read or retrieve operation is the only one of the four fundamental operations that can be performed on a file that does change the data.

10. Sequential access means the retrieval of a single record of a file based on one or more values of a field or a combination of fields in the file.

11. In physical sequential access, the records of a file are retrieved in order based on the values of one or a combination of the fields.

12. There are three basic ways of retrieving data: sequential access, interrupted access, and direct access.

13. Prior to the development of the database concept, data was often held redundantly in multiple files.

14. Prior to the development of the database concept, programs usually had to be modified if the file structures that they accessed were modified.

15. Prior to the development of the database concept, there was no data redundancy within individual files.

16. In the database concept, each application has its own, private database.

17. Today, data is considered to be a manageable resource along with money, personnel, and plant and equipment.

18. Data integration refers to the ability to store data in a non-redundant fashion.

19. Data redundancy refers to the same fact about the business environment being stored more than once within an information system.

20. Data redundancy is a positive feature of an information system.

21. The amount of data redundancy has no bearing on the amount of time it takes to update the data.

22. Data integrity problems result from the incorrect updating of redundant data.

23. Redundant data can occur across multiple files but not within individual files.

24. The problems caused by redundant data within individual files are the same problems caused by redundant data across multiple files.

25. A particular data value appearing multiple times in a column of a file always indicates redundant data.

26. Combining files to achieve data integration can introduce data redundancy.

27. Integrating data in a set of non-redundant files requires a multi-file access.

28. Anomalies occur when two different kinds of data (data describing two entities) are merged into one file.

29. The deletion anomaly can cause a loss of data.

30. A database management system is a software utility that stresses the storage of non-redundant data without the expectation of providing a data integration capability.

31. A database management system can store data non-redundantly while also providing a data integration capability.

32. Database management systems are expected to handle binary relationships but not unary or ternary relationships.

33. Database management systems must be able to handle unary, binary, and ternary relationships without introducing data redundancy or other problems.

34. Database management systems leave data control issues such as security, backup and recovery, and concurrency control to the application programmer to deal with.

35. Security, backup and recovery, and concurrency are issues that are common to all databases and so should be handled by the DBMS.