DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A data analyst wants to find customers whose last name starts with 'Mc' and have made purchases in 2023. The purchase table has a purchase_date column. Which SQL query accomplishes this?
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
✓
SELECT * FROM customers c JOIN purchases p ON c.id = p.customer_id WHERE last_name LIKE 'Mc%' AND p.purchase_date BETWEEN '2023-01-01' AND '2023-12-31';
The correct query (option D) joins the customers and purchases tables on customer ID to link customers with their purchases. It uses `LIKE 'Mc%'` to match last names starting with 'Mc' (the wildcard '%' matches any sequence of characters) and filters purchase dates within the year 2023 using `BETWEEN '2023-01-01' AND '2023-12-31'`. Options A, B, and C are incorrect: A uses `LIKE 'Mc_'` which matches exactly two characters after 'Mc', not any sequence; B uses `LIKE '%Mc%'` which matches 'Mc' anywhere in the name, not just the beginning; C uses `= 'Mc%'` which treats the wildcard as a literal character; and all three fail to join the purchases table, so they cannot filter by purchase date.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE last_name LIKE 'Mc_' AND YEAR(purchase_date) = 2023;
Why it's wrong here
'Mc_' matches exactly three characters.
- ✗
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE last_name LIKE '%Mc%' AND purchase_date = 2023;
Why it's wrong here
'%Mc%' matches 'Mc' anywhere; purchase_date = 2023 is invalid.
- ✗
SELECT * FROM customers WHERE last_name = 'Mc%' AND YEAR(purchase_date) = 2023;
Why it's wrong here
= does not interpret wildcards.
- ✓
SELECT * FROM customers c JOIN purchases p ON c.id = p.customer_id WHERE last_name LIKE 'Mc%' AND p.purchase_date BETWEEN '2023-01-01' AND '2023-12-31';
Why this is correct
Correct use of LIKE, JOIN, and date range.
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