DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
A marketing analyst needs to combine customer data from a CRM database with social media engagement data from a third-party API. Which data acquisition method is most appropriate?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers confuse web scraping with API integration, assuming both can retrieve web data, but the question specifically requires combining structured data from a third-party API, where web scraping would be unreliable, unauthorized, and technically inappropriate for programmatic data acquisition.
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
✓
API integration
API integration is the most appropriate method because it allows the analyst to programmatically retrieve structured social media engagement data directly from the third-party service's RESTful or GraphQL API endpoints. This approach ensures real-time or near-real-time data synchronization, supports authentication (e.g., OAuth 2.0), and returns data in standardized formats like JSON or XML, which can be directly ingested into the CRM system without manual intervention.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Web scraping
Why it's wrong here
Web scraping extracts unstructured HTML from public pages, not authenticated CRM records or API responses; the CRM requires direct database queries and the social platform offers a structured API. Scraping suits harvesting publicly visible pricing or reviews when no formal data feed exists.
- ✗
Manual data entry
Why it's wrong here
Manual data entry cannot scale to CRM records plus third-party social engagement volumes, and it introduces transcription error with no repeatable refresh. It suits small one-off corrections or capturing data with no system interface, whereas this scenario needs automated extraction from the CRM and API calls to the social platform.
- ✓
API integration
Why this is correct
API integration lets the analyst pull social media engagement data programmatically from the third-party service and join it with CRM records, satisfying the need to combine two distinct sources. It handles authentication, scheduled retrieval and structured responses that flat-file exports cannot provide reliably.
- ✗
Batch file upload
Why it's wrong here
Batch file upload moves static extracts on a schedule, so the social media engagement data would be stale and the CRM extract disconnected from live records. It is the right method for bulk historical loads or nightly reconciliation, but combining two sources for analysis requires an API-based or direct-query acquisition that refreshes both.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.