Unit 4: Relational Database Design - Practice Quiz

INT306 — Database Management Systems 60 Questions
0 Correct 0 Wrong 60 Left
0/60

1 Which data integrity rule states that no part of a primary key can be null?

data integrity rules Easy
A. Referential integrity
B. User-defined integrity
C. Entity integrity
D. Domain integrity

2 Which rule ensures that a foreign key value must match an existing primary key value in the referenced table, or be null?

data integrity rules Easy
A. Referential integrity
B. Domain integrity
C. Column integrity
D. Entity integrity

3 In the context of relational databases, what does the notation represent?

functional dependency Easy
A. functionally determines
B. is equal to
C. is a subset of
D. functionally determines

4 A functional dependency is considered trivial if:

functional dependency Easy
A. is a subset of
B. and are disjoint
C. is a subset of
D. is a primary key

5 According to Armstrong's axioms, if and , then . What is this rule called?

functional dependency Easy
A. Union rule
B. Augmentation rule
C. Transitivity rule
D. Reflexivity rule

6 What is the primary objective of database normalization?

need of normalization Easy
A. To increase data redundancy
B. To speed up data retrieval by avoiding joins
C. To combine all tables into one large table
D. To minimize data redundancy and avoid anomalies

7 Which of the following occurs when deleting a row in a table unintentionally causes the loss of other independent data?

need of normalization Easy
A. Update anomaly
B. Insertion anomaly
C. Deletion anomaly
D. Redundancy anomaly

8 A relation is in First Normal Form (1NF) if every attribute contains:

first normal form Easy
A. Only atomic (indivisible) values
B. Repeating groups
C. Transitive dependencies
D. Composite values

9 Which of the following is explicitly forbidden in First Normal Form (1NF)?

first normal form Easy
A. Primary keys
B. Foreign keys
C. Repeating groups or arrays
D. Null values

10 For a table to be in Second Normal Form (2NF), it must first be in 1NF and free of:

second normal form Easy
A. Functional dependencies
B. Transitive dependencies
C. Partial dependencies
D. Multivalued dependencies

11 When does a partial dependency occur?

second normal form Easy
A. When a non-prime attribute depends on only a part of a composite primary key
B. When a non-prime attribute depends on a non-prime attribute
C. When a table has no primary key
D. When a prime attribute depends on a non-prime attribute

12 A table is in Third Normal Form (3NF) if it is in 2NF and has no:

third normal form Easy
A. Partial dependencies
B. Primary keys
C. Atomic values
D. Transitive dependencies

13 In 3NF, for every non-trivial functional dependency , which of the following must be true?

third normal form Easy
A. is a superkey OR is a prime attribute
B. is a foreign key
C. is a prime attribute AND is a superkey
D. is a subset of

14 Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) is widely considered to be a stronger version of which normal form?

boyce codd normal form Easy
A. 2NF
B. 1NF
C. 4NF
D. 3NF

15 For a relation to be in BCNF, for every non-trivial functional dependency , what must be?

boyce codd normal form Easy
A. A superkey
B. A composite attribute
C. A prime attribute
D. A foreign key

16 Which normal form removes the 3NF allowance that the dependent attribute can be a prime attribute when the determinant is not a candidate key?

boyce codd normal form Easy
A. 4NF
B. 2NF
C. BCNF
D. 1NF

17 Which symbol is used to denote a multivalued dependency between attributes and ?

multivalued dependencies Easy
A.
B.
C.
D.

18 A multivalued dependency occurs when there are at least how many attributes in a relation?

multivalued dependencies Easy
A. It depends on the primary key size
B. Three
C. Two
D. One

19 A table is in Fourth Normal Form (4NF) if it is in BCNF and contains no:

fourth normal form Easy
A. Partial dependencies
B. Multivalued dependencies
C. Functional dependencies
D. Transitive dependencies

20 If a relation has two independent multivalued attributes (e.g., an employee's skills and their hobbies), putting them in the same table usually violates which normal form?

fourth normal form Easy
A. 2NF
B. 1NF
C. 4NF
D. 3NF

21 Which data integrity rule is violated if a foreign key in a child table references a primary key value in a parent table that does not exist?

data integrity rules Medium
A. Domain Integrity Rule
B. Key Integrity Rule
C. Referential Integrity Rule
D. Entity Integrity Rule

22 According to the Entity Integrity Rule, why must a primary key attribute never contain a NULL value?

data integrity rules Medium
A. Because foreign keys cannot reference composite primary keys if any part is NULL.
B. Because indexing structures like B-Trees crash when encountering NULL primary keys.
C. Because a primary key is used to uniquely identify individual tuples, and NULL implies an unknown or unassigned identity.
D. Because NULL values consume too much storage space in the database block.

23 Given a relation and the functional dependencies and , which of Armstrong's axioms logically implies that ?

functional dependency Medium
A. Augmentation Rule
B. Decomposition Rule
C. Transitivity Rule
D. Reflexivity Rule

24 If a functional dependency is considered 'trivial', what must be the relationship between sets of attributes and ?

functional dependency Medium
A. and together form a superkey
B. is a proper subset of
C. is a subset of
D. and have no attributes in common

25 Suppose holds in a relation . According to the Augmentation Rule, what additional functional dependency is guaranteed to hold for any attribute ?

functional dependency Medium
A.
B.
C.
D.

26 In an unnormalized database, updating a student's address might require changing multiple rows if the student is enrolled in multiple courses. What type of problem is this?

need of normalization Medium
A. Insertion anomaly
B. Referential anomaly
C. Update anomaly
D. Deletion anomaly

27 Which of the following best describes a 'deletion anomaly' in a relational database?

need of normalization Medium
A. Data inconsistencies resulting from partially completed transaction rollbacks.
B. The unintentional loss of data about one entity when deleting a record about another entity.
C. A failure that occurs when attempting to delete a primary key referenced by a foreign key.
D. Being unable to add a new record because it lacks a primary key value.

28 A relation has an attribute Skills that contains values like 'Java, Python, SQL' in a single tuple. To bring into First Normal Form (1NF), what must the designer do?

first normal form Medium
A. Remove all transitive dependencies from the relation.
B. Create a new primary key that includes the Skills attribute.
C. Ensure all non-key attributes are dependent on the primary key.
D. Modify the schema so that every attribute contains only atomic (indivisible) values.

29 Which of the following conditions is a strict requirement for a table to be in First Normal Form (1NF)?

first normal form Medium
A. There must be no composite candidate keys.
B. There must be no partial functional dependencies.
C. All columns must have unique names and hold values of the same domain.
D. Every non-prime attribute must depend on the whole primary key.

30 A relation has a composite primary key . A functional dependency exists. Which normal form is violated by this relation?

second normal form Medium
A. 3NF
B. BCNF
C. 2NF
D. 1NF

31 If a relation has a single-attribute primary key and is already in 1NF, what can be immediately concluded about its 2NF status?

second normal form Medium
A. It requires a check for multivalued dependencies to confirm 2NF status.
B. It is automatically in 2NF because partial dependencies are impossible.
C. It automatically violates 2NF and must be decomposed.
D. It is in 2NF only if there are no transitive dependencies.

32 A relation has primary key . The dependencies are and . To normalize this to 3NF, how should the relation be decomposed?

third normal form Medium
A. and
B. and
C. No decomposition is needed; it is already in 3NF.
D. and

33 According to the formal definition of 3NF, for every non-trivial functional dependency , either must be a superkey, OR which of the following must be true?

third normal form Medium
A. must be functionally dependent on a non-prime attribute.
B. must be a single attribute.
C. and must be disjoint sets.
D. must be a prime attribute (part of a candidate key).

34 A table Orders has attributes OrderID, CustomerID, and CustomerName. The functional dependencies are OrderID CustomerID, CustomerName and CustomerID CustomerName. What anomaly is most likely if this remains unnormalized?

third normal form Medium
A. Inserting a new order will accidentally delete customer information.
B. Updating a customer's name requires changing multiple order records.
C. Deleting an order prevents the addition of new customers.
D. Querying the customer's name will return multiple different strings.

35 What is the defining rule that distinguishes Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF) from Third Normal Form (3NF)?

boyce codd normal form Medium
A. BCNF requires all attributes to be atomic.
B. BCNF eliminates multivalued dependencies, which 3NF ignores.
C. BCNF does not allow the right side of a dependency to be a prime attribute unless the left side is a superkey.
D. BCNF prohibits partial dependencies, whereas 3NF allows them.

36 Under which specific condition is a relation guaranteed to be in BCNF if it is already in 3NF?

boyce codd normal form Medium
A. If the relation has overlapping candidate keys.
B. If the relation has at least three attributes.
C. If the relation has only one candidate key.
D. If the relation contains no composite keys.

37 In a relation , a multivalued dependency exists. What does this imply about the relationship between attributes and ?

multivalued dependencies Medium
A. is a subset of .
B. functionally determines .
C. and are entirely independent of one another, but both are determined by .
D. and must together form a candidate key.

38 Suppose a Professor teaches multiple Courses and enjoys multiple Hobbies. If Courses and Hobbies are independent, representing this in a single table (Prof_ID, Course, Hobby) creates which issue?

multivalued dependencies Medium
A. Partial dependency
B. Transitive dependency
C. Multivalued dependency resulting in a Cartesian product of courses and hobbies
D. A violation of the domain integrity rule

39 A relation is said to be in Fourth Normal Form (4NF) if it is in BCNF and contains no:

fourth normal form Medium
A. Trivial multivalued dependencies
B. Overlapping candidate keys
C. Non-trivial multivalued dependencies
D. Non-trivial functional dependencies

40 To resolve a 4NF violation in the table where an employee has multiple independent skills and speaks multiple independent languages, how should be decomposed?

fourth normal form Medium
A. with a new surrogate primary key
B. and
C. and
D. and

41 Consider a relation schema and the set of functional dependencies . Which of the following sets correctly identifies ALL the candidate keys of ?

functional dependency Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

42 Which of the following represents the canonical cover (minimal cover) for the set of functional dependencies ?

functional dependency Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

43 Given the functional dependencies and for a relation . According to Armstrong's Axioms, which of the following is a valid logical implication?

functional dependency Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

44 In a relational database, Table A and Table B have a cyclic referential integrity constraint (Table A references Table B, and Table B references Table A). Both tables are initially empty. Which of the following is the standard SQL mechanism to successfully insert the first row without violating data integrity rules?

data integrity rules Hard
A. Use DEFERRED constraint checking during a transaction.
B. Insert the rows using a FULL OUTER JOIN statement.
C. Use the ON UPDATE CASCADE clause on both foreign keys.
D. It is impossible; the schema must be redesigned to remove the cycle.

45 Consider a self-referencing table Employee(EmpID, Name, ManagerID) where ManagerID is a foreign key referencing EmpID. The foreign key is configured with ON DELETE CASCADE. If the database contains a strict hierarchy of 10 employees under one CEO, and the CEO's record (where ManagerID is NULL) is deleted, what is the outcome?

data integrity rules Hard
A. The deletion will fail due to entity integrity rules.
B. All 11 records (CEO + 10 employees) will be deleted.
C. The database will throw a cycle violation error and abort the transaction.
D. Only the CEO's record is deleted; the employees' ManagerID becomes NULL.

46 A relation is decomposed into and . Which of the following conditions strictly guarantees that this decomposition is a lossless-join decomposition?

need of normalization Hard
A. and are in .
B. The functional dependency or is in .
C. The intersection of attributes in and is not empty.
D. The union of attributes in and is equal to .

47 Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the presence of 'spurious tuples' caused by an inadequate database design?

need of normalization Hard
A. Inserting a partial record into a relation containing multiple independent themes.
B. Joining two decomposed relations on an attribute that is not a candidate key in either relation.
C. A query returning duplicate rows because DISTINCT was not used.
D. Failing to update all instances of a redundant value, leading to inconsistent data.

48 A relation has a primary key . Attribute contains a set of values (a repeating group). To convert to First Normal Form (1NF), a new tuple is created for every value in . What is the primary key of the resulting 1NF relation?

first normal form Hard
A. A newly generated surrogate key is strictly required.
B. The composite key
C. The original key
D. The composite key

49 Consider a relation schema with functional dependencies , , and . The only candidate key is . Which specific functional dependency causes a violation of Second Normal Form (2NF)?

second normal form Hard
A. None, it is in 2NF.
B.
C.
D.

50 If a relation is in First Normal Form (1NF) and its primary key consists of a single attribute, which of the following statements is unconditionally true?

second normal form Hard
A. The relation is automatically in Third Normal Form (3NF).
B. The relation contains no transitive dependencies.
C. The relation is automatically in Second Normal Form (2NF).
D. The relation cannot have any multivalued dependencies.

51 Consider the relation and the set of functional dependencies . What is the highest normal form satisfied by relation ?

third normal form Hard
A. 2NF
B. 1NF
C. 3NF
D. BCNF

52 In the context of the 3NF synthesis algorithm (Bernstein's algorithm), which of the following guarantees is provided that is NOT always possible when decomposing into Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)?

third normal form Hard
A. Elimination of all update anomalies
B. Lossless Join
C. Dependency Preservation
D. Removal of multi-valued dependencies

53 A relation is strictly in 3NF but not in BCNF. According to the definitions of normal forms, which of the following conditions MUST exist in ?

third normal form Hard
A. A non-prime attribute is functionally dependent on a non-superkey.
B. A non-trivial multivalued dependency exists.
C. A prime attribute is functionally dependent on a non-superkey.
D. A non-prime attribute is partially dependent on a composite candidate key.

54 Consider a relation with functional dependencies and . If we attempt to decompose to achieve BCNF, what is the primary consequence of this decomposition?

boyce codd normal form Hard
A. The decomposition will result in a lossy join.
B. The functional dependency will be lost.
C. The resulting tables will violate 4NF.
D. The functional dependency will be lost.

55 Let be a relation with exactly one candidate key, . Which of the following functional dependencies would NOT cause a violation of BCNF?

boyce codd normal form Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

56 Which of the following statements about relations with exactly two attributes is strictly mathematically proven?

boyce codd normal form Hard
A. A relation with exactly two attributes may be in 3NF but fail BCNF.
B. A relation with two attributes is in BCNF only if both attributes form the primary key.
C. Any relation with exactly two attributes is always in BCNF.
D. A relation with exactly two attributes can violate BCNF if there is a transitive dependency.

57 Given a relation schema . If the multivalued dependency holds, what other dependency is logically guaranteed to hold according to the complementation rule of multivalued dependencies?

multivalued dependencies Hard
A.
B.
C.
D.

58 A multivalued dependency in a relation is defined as 'trivial' if and only if which of the following conditions is met?

multivalued dependencies Hard
A. is a single attribute
B. and
C. is a candidate key of
D. or

59 Consider a relation CourseInfo(Course, Teacher, Book). A course can have multiple teachers and multiple recommended books. Teachers and books are completely independent of each other for a given course. The relation currently has no functional dependencies. Which normal form does CourseInfo violate?

fourth normal form Hard
A. Fourth Normal Form (4NF)
B. Second Normal Form (2NF)
C. Boyce-Codd Normal Form (BCNF)
D. Third Normal Form (3NF)

60 Let be a relation schema that is certified to be in Fourth Normal Form (4NF). Which of the following MUST necessarily be true regarding ?

fourth normal form Hard
A. There are no functional dependencies of any kind in .
B. For every non-trivial functional dependency , is a superkey.
C. cannot be decomposed any further without losing data.
D. has exactly one candidate key.