Introduction to Database Systems - 100
MCQs
1. 1. Which of the following best defines a database?
A. A spreadsheet application
B. A structured collection of related data
C. A programming language
D. An operating system
Answer: B
2. 2. What is the main purpose of a DBMS?
A. To design websites
B. To compile programs
C. To store and manage data efficiently
D. To send emails
Answer: C
3. 3. Which SQL keyword is used to group rows that have the same values in specified
columns?
A. ORDER BY
B. GROUP BY
C. WHERE
D. HAVING
Answer: B
4. 4. Which function returns the number of rows in a SQL query?
A. SUM()
B. COUNT()
C. AVG()
D. MAX()
Answer: B
5. 5. What does the SQL HAVING clause do?
A. Filters columns
B. Filters grouped rows
C. Changes table structure
D. Inserts new rows
Answer: B
6. 6. Which of these is an aggregate function in SQL?
A. SUM
B. WHERE
C. SELECT
D. INSERT
Answer: A
7. 7. Which SQL clause sorts the result set?
A. WHERE
B. GROUP BY
C. ORDER BY
D. HAVING
Answer: C
8. 8. Which SQL function returns the highest value in a column?
A. MIN()
B. MAX()
C. COUNT()
D. AVG()
Answer: B
9. 9. What is the purpose of the SQL JOIN clause?
A. To create new databases
B. To merge rows from two or more tables
C. To delete data
D. To apply constraints
Answer: B
10. 10. Which type of join returns all records from both tables when there is a match?
A. INNER JOIN
B. OUTER JOIN
C. FULL JOIN
D. CROSS JOIN
Answer: C
11. 11. The keyword to eliminate duplicate rows in a SQL query is:
A. REMOVE
B. DISTINCT
C. DELETE
D. CLEAN
Answer: B
12. 12. Which clause comes after GROUP BY to filter grouped data?
A. WHERE
B. HAVING
C. ORDER BY
D. FROM
Answer: B
13. 13. In an E/R diagram, entities are represented by:
A. Diamonds
B. Rectangles
C. Ovals
D. Arrows
Answer: B
14. 14. Attributes in E/R diagrams are represented by:
A. Rectangles
B. Ovals
C. Diamonds
D. Squares
Answer: B
15. 15. A relationship in an E/R diagram is represented by:
A. Circle
B. Oval
C. Diamond
D. Rectangle
Answer: C
16. 16. Which of the following represents a one-to-many relationship?
A. 1:N
B. N:1
C. M:M
D. 1:1
Answer: A
17. 17. A weak entity set has:
A. Its own primary key
B. No relationship
C. No discriminator
D. No sufficient attributes to form a primary key
Answer: D
18. 18. A composite attribute is:
A. An attribute that can be divided into sub-parts
B. An attribute that stores images
C. A foreign key
D. An attribute with NULL values
Answer: A
19. 19. A multivalued attribute is represented in an E/R diagram with:
A. Double ovals
B. Double rectangles
C. Diamonds
D. Arrows
Answer: A
20. 20. An entity set that participates in a relationship is called a:
A. Key
B. Cardinality
C. Participating entity
D. Attribute
Answer: C
21. 21. Which of the following is true about a key attribute?
A. It can have duplicates
B. It identifies weak entities
C. It uniquely identifies an entity
D. It is always multivalued
Answer: C
22. 22. Generalization in E/R modeling is:
A. Bottom-up approach
B. Top-down approach
C. A sorting technique
D. A design flaw
Answer: A
23. 23. Normalization aims to:
A. Add redundancy
B. Minimize duplication
C. Decrease integrity
D. Reduce access time
Answer: B
24. 24. 1NF requires that:
A. There are no transitive dependencies
B. Data is atomic
C. Foreign keys exist
D. Primary keys exist
Answer: B
25. 25. 2NF removes:
A. Duplicate rows
B. Partial dependencies
C. Composite attributes
D. Candidate keys
Answer: B
26. 26. 3NF removes:
A. Partial dependency
B. Multivalued dependency
C. Transitive dependency
D. Functional dependency
Answer: C
27. 27. Which of the following violates 2NF?
A. Table with only atomic values
B. Table with no primary key
C. Table with partial dependency
D. Table with no redundancy
Answer: C
28. 28. A table in 3NF is always in:
A. 1NF only
B. 2NF only
C. Both 1NF and 2NF
D. BCNF
Answer: C
29. 29. The process of decomposing a relation is done during:
A. Query execution
B. Normalization
C. Joins
D. Backup
Answer: B
30. 30. Transitive dependency means:
A. A depends on B and B depends on C
B. A directly depends on B
C. B depends on itself
D. A is a candidate key
Answer: A
31. 31. Normalization eliminates:
A. Functional dependencies
B. Data redundancy and anomalies
C. All constraints
D. Primary keys
Answer: B
32. 32. Denormalization is done to:
A. Add redundancy for performance
B. Improve data integrity
C. Eliminate keys
D. Apply constraints
Answer: A
33. 33. In a file-based system, data is stored in:
A. Tables
B. Relations
C. Files
D. Views
Answer: C
34. 34. A **record** in a file system refers to:
A. A table
B. A row of data
C. A field name
D. A key
Answer: B
35. 35. A **field** in a file system refers to:
A. A column
B. A table
C. A row
D. A schema
Answer: A
36. 36. Which of these is a disadvantage of a file-based system?
A. Easy to manage
B. Data redundancy
C. Low cost
D. Security
Answer: B
37. 37. In file systems, the program and data are:
A. Independent
B. Tightly coupled
C. Virtualized
D. Encrypted
Answer: B
38. 38. Data inconsistency is common in:
A. Distributed databases
B. File-based systems
C. Relational databases
D. Data warehouses
Answer: B
39. 39. Which type of access method reads records sequentially?
A. Indexed
B. Direct
C. Sequential
D. Random
Answer: C
40. 40. Which term refers to a unique identifier in a file system?
A. Tuple
B. Key field
C. Schema
D. Node
Answer: B
41. 41. Which of these is NOT a limitation of file-based systems?
A. Limited data sharing
B. Difficult access
C. Easy concurrency
D. Redundant data
Answer: C
42. 42. Which of the following is NOT typically associated with file-based systems?
A. Query optimization
B. Data redundancy
C. Limited security
D. Manual processing
Answer: A
43. 43. Which file organization method stores data contiguously?
A. Indexed
B. Heap
C. Sequential
D. Hash
Answer: C
44. 44. In file systems, metadata is usually:
A. Not stored
B. Manually managed
C. Automatically updated
D. Redundant
Answer: B
45. 45. Data integrity in file-based systems is:
A. Easily maintained
B. Often compromised
C. Fully enforced
D. Inherited from schemas
Answer: B
46. 46. Which of the following is true about a database vs. a file-based system?
A. Databases provide less security
B. File-based systems support SQL
C. Databases reduce redundancy
D. File-based systems normalize data
Answer: C
47. 47. Which of these is a key feature **lacking** in file-based systems?
A. Storage
B. Data security
C. Query language
D. Both B and C
Answer: D
