DA0-002 Data Concepts and Environments Practice Question
A data governance committee is defining metadata standards for a new data lake. They need to distinguish between technical metadata and business metadata to ensure proper data management. Which two of the following are examples of technical metadata? (Choose two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is conflating business governance roles and definitions with technical metadata, which strictly concerns the physical and structural attributes of data systems.
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
✓
Data type of a column (e.g., VARCHAR, INTEGER)
Technical metadata describes the structure, format, and operational characteristics of data, such as data types and row counts. Business metadata provides semantic context, definitions, ownership, and quality rules. The data type of a column and the number of rows in a table are technical metadata, while business definitions, data owners, and quality thresholds are business metadata.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Data type of a column (e.g., VARCHAR, INTEGER)
Why this is correct
Technical metadata describes the structure and format of data, such as data types, lengths, and constraints. The data type of a column directly defines how data is stored and processed, making it essential for schema management, ETL development, and query optimization. This is a classic example of technical metadata used by data engineers and database administrators.
- ✗
Business definition of a 'customer'
Why it's wrong here
The business definition of 'customer' is business metadata because it provides semantic context, rules, and terminology for business users. It explains what the data means in organizational terms, not how it is physically stored. While critical for governance and analytics, it is not technical metadata, which focuses on structural and operational attributes of data systems.
- ✗
Data quality threshold for completeness
Why it's wrong here
A data quality threshold for completeness is business metadata because it defines a rule or expectation based on business requirements. It specifies how complete the data must be for business purposes, not how the data is technically structured. Technical metadata would include the actual completeness percentage or null count as a metric, but the threshold itself is a governance policy.
- ✗
Data owner responsible for a dataset
Why it's wrong here
The data owner is a governance role that defines accountability and stewardship. This is considered business or administrative metadata because it relates to organizational responsibilities and policies, not to the technical structure of the data. Technical metadata would instead include details like file format, compression, or storage location.
- ✓
Number of rows in a table
Why this is correct
The number of rows in a table is technical metadata that provides statistical information about the data volume. It is used for query planning, capacity management, and performance tuning. This operational detail is generated and maintained by the database system, distinguishing it from business metadata that describes meaning and usage.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This DA0-002 question is part of Courseiva's 1,004-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This DA0-002 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the DA0-002 exam.