WGU C175 Data Management Foundations 2026 Study Notecards – Expert Verified Q&A on SQL, ER Modeling, Normalization & BI

This WGU C175 Data Management Foundations 2026 Study Notecards document contains expert-verified question-and-answer flashcards covering core database concepts, relational modeling, SQL syntax, normalization rules, business intelligence, ETL processes, and data mining principles. The material thoroughly reviews flat files, hashed files, heap files, structured vs unstructured data, binary and unary relationships, cardinality and modality interpretation, associative and weak entities, referential integrity rules (RESTRICT, CASCADE, SET-TO-NULL), and key concepts such as candidate keys, superkeys, and foreign keys. The guide provides extensive SQL coverage including SELECT statements, WHERE clauses, AND/OR operators, LIKE, BETWEEN, IN, DISTINCT, ORDER BY, AVG and SUM functions, JOIN clauses, subqueries, inner and outer joins, Cartesian products, UNION, and scalar subqueries. It also details DDL and DML commands (CREATE, DROP, ALTER, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, MERGE), CREATE TABLE and CREATE VIEW syntax, and examples of multi-table joins and aggregation queries. Normalization is explained through First, Second, and Third Normal Forms, emphasizing full functional dependency, elimination of redundancy, and proper foreign key placement derived from ER modeling. Advanced topics include concurrency problems, data independence, dimensional modeling for BI, data warehouses and data marts, OLAP, ETL process stages (extraction, transformation, loading), aggregation in staging, and business intelligence value drivers such as profitability, throughput, trust, and risk reduction. Data mining concepts are also covered in depth, including classification, clustering, estimation, affinity grouping, association rules, integration, and performance considerations such as response time and throughput. The document reinforces theoretical understanding alongside applied SQL query construction, making it ideal for mastery of both conceptual and technical aspects of database management. This resource is especially suitable for: WGU students enrolled in C175 Data Management Foundations Students preparing for the WGU C175 Objective Assessment IT, cybersecurity, and data analytics students reviewing relational databases Learners strengthening SQL querying and ER diagram interpretation skills Professionals building foundational knowledge in database systems and business intelligence Keywords: WGU C175 study notecards 2026 data management foundations flashcards entity relationship model ERD cardinality and modality associative entity weak entity referential integrity rules candidate key superkey foreign key SQL SELECT WHERE JOIN inner join outer join DISTINCT ORDER BY DDL vs DML commands CREATE TABLE CREATE VIEW normalization 1NF 2NF 3NF functional dependency business intelligence BI ETL extract transform load data warehouse and data mart classification clustering estimation affinity grouping association rules response time throughput