WGU C170 VHT2 TASK 1 NORMALIZATION
PRACTICE EXAM BANK 2026 TESTED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ What happens in conceptual design? Answer: Identify entities,
attributes, relationships, and business rules (create ERD).
⩥ What happens in logical design? Answer: Convert ERD into tables,
primary keys, foreign keys, and relationships.
⩥ What happens in physical design? Answer: Choose DBMS, data
types, indexes, constraints, storage structures; implement tables.
⩥ What is view integration? Answer: Build separate local models →
merge into one global conceptual model.
⩥ What is the centralized approach? Answer: Gather all requirements
first; build one model from scratch.
⩥ What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up design?
Answer: Top-down: big picture → details. Bottom-up: details → big
picture.
,⩥ What is data conversion/loading? Answer: Transform old data → new
format and import it into the new DB.
⩥ What is the longest phase of the database lifecycle? Answer:
Maintenance.
⩥ What is an ERD? Answer: A diagram showing entities, attributes, and
relationships.
⩥ What is a relationship? Answer: The way two entities are connected,
described with verbs.
⩥ In a 1:* relationship, who gets the foreign key? Answer: The many
side (child).
⩥ In a 1:1 relationship, where does the foreign key go? Answer:
Whichever side is optional or has low participation.
⩥ What kind of relationship uses an associative entity? Answer: M:N
(many-to-many).
⩥ What is an associative entity? Answer: A table made of 2 FKs that
tracks relationships between entities.
, ⩥ What is a multi-valued attribute? Answer: An attribute with more than
one value (ex: multiple phone numbers). Must become a new table.
⩥ Why not store multi-valued attributes in one column? Answer: It
violates 1NF (not atomic).
⩥ What is optionality (0:1, 0:*, etc.)? Answer: Whether a relationship is
mandatory or optional.
⩥ What is a primary key? Answer: A unique identifier for a row.
⩥ What is a foreign key? Answer: A field in the child table that
references a parent's primary key.
⩥ What is a composite key? Answer: A key made of 2+ attributes.
⩥ What is a good key? Answer: Stable, unique, minimal, never changes.
⩥ What is a bad key? Answer: Changes over time, or not unique (ex:
names).
⩥ What is normalization? Answer: Organizing tables to reduce
redundancy and avoid anomalies.
PRACTICE EXAM BANK 2026 TESTED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
⩥ What happens in conceptual design? Answer: Identify entities,
attributes, relationships, and business rules (create ERD).
⩥ What happens in logical design? Answer: Convert ERD into tables,
primary keys, foreign keys, and relationships.
⩥ What happens in physical design? Answer: Choose DBMS, data
types, indexes, constraints, storage structures; implement tables.
⩥ What is view integration? Answer: Build separate local models →
merge into one global conceptual model.
⩥ What is the centralized approach? Answer: Gather all requirements
first; build one model from scratch.
⩥ What is the difference between top-down and bottom-up design?
Answer: Top-down: big picture → details. Bottom-up: details → big
picture.
,⩥ What is data conversion/loading? Answer: Transform old data → new
format and import it into the new DB.
⩥ What is the longest phase of the database lifecycle? Answer:
Maintenance.
⩥ What is an ERD? Answer: A diagram showing entities, attributes, and
relationships.
⩥ What is a relationship? Answer: The way two entities are connected,
described with verbs.
⩥ In a 1:* relationship, who gets the foreign key? Answer: The many
side (child).
⩥ In a 1:1 relationship, where does the foreign key go? Answer:
Whichever side is optional or has low participation.
⩥ What kind of relationship uses an associative entity? Answer: M:N
(many-to-many).
⩥ What is an associative entity? Answer: A table made of 2 FKs that
tracks relationships between entities.
, ⩥ What is a multi-valued attribute? Answer: An attribute with more than
one value (ex: multiple phone numbers). Must become a new table.
⩥ Why not store multi-valued attributes in one column? Answer: It
violates 1NF (not atomic).
⩥ What is optionality (0:1, 0:*, etc.)? Answer: Whether a relationship is
mandatory or optional.
⩥ What is a primary key? Answer: A unique identifier for a row.
⩥ What is a foreign key? Answer: A field in the child table that
references a parent's primary key.
⩥ What is a composite key? Answer: A key made of 2+ attributes.
⩥ What is a good key? Answer: Stable, unique, minimal, never changes.
⩥ What is a bad key? Answer: Changes over time, or not unique (ex:
names).
⩥ What is normalization? Answer: Organizing tables to reduce
redundancy and avoid anomalies.
