DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A data analyst is using SQL to extract data. The analyst wants to retrieve all records from a table named 'sales' where the 'amount' column is greater than 100. Which SQL clause should be used?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often confuse HAVING with WHERE, thinking both can filter rows, but HAVING is only valid after GROUP BY and for aggregate conditions, while WHERE filters individual rows before any grouping.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
WHERE
The WHERE clause in SQL is used to filter records based on a specified condition, such as 'amount > 100'. It is applied directly to the rows in the 'sales' table before any grouping or ordering, making it the correct choice for retrieving only records where the amount exceeds 100.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
WHERE
Why this is correct
WHERE filters individual rows before any grouping or aggregation, returning only those sales records whose amount exceeds 100. It satisfies the stem's constraint of retrieving all matching rows from the sales table, unlike HAVING, which filters grouped results after aggregation and cannot reference non-aggregated row values in this way.
- ✗
ORDER BY
Why it's wrong here
ORDER BY sorts the result set after filtering, so it cannot restrict rows to those with amount greater than 100; the WHERE clause performs that row-level filtering. Sorting is genuinely useful when the stem requires ranked or sequential output, such as listing sales by amount ascending.
- ✗
GROUP BY
Why it's wrong here
GROUP BY collapses rows into aggregated groups and cannot select individual records meeting a row-level predicate. It is correct when the stem requires aggregating sales per category, region or customer rather than retrieving every row whose amount exceeds 100.
- ✗
HAVING
Why it's wrong here
HAVING filters grouped aggregate results after GROUP BY, so it cannot evaluate the row-level amount column before aggregation. It is the right choice when the stem asks to restrict groups by a condition on an aggregate, such as SUM(amount) exceeding 100.
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