DA0-002 Data Concepts and Environments Practice Question
A retail company has merged with another firm and now needs to create a unified customer data warehouse. The existing systems use different data classification methods: System A stores customer income as a categorical range (e.g., '$0-$50k', '$50k-$100k', '$100k+') while System B stores exact income as a decimal number. A data analyst must combine these into a single table. The goal is to perform statistical analysis that includes calculating average income, but the categorical data from System A loses precision. The analyst proposes converting System B's exact values into the same ranges as System A to ensure consistency. However, the data governance team wants to preserve as much detail as possible. Which course of action should the analyst recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates choose Option B, thinking consistency requires downgrading all data to the lowest common denominator, but the exam tests the ability to preserve precision while achieving integration through transformation techniques like midpoint imputation.
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
✓
Impute System A's categorical data with the midpoint of each range to create a continuous numeric field, then combine with System B's exact values
Imputing the midpoint of each income range converts System A's categorical data into a continuous numeric field, allowing it to be combined with System B's exact decimal values. This approach preserves the granularity of System B's data while enabling statistical calculations like average income across the unified dataset, balancing the data governance team's requirement for detail with the need for consistency.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Store both columns separately and treat them as independent attributes
Why it's wrong here
This does not combine the data and complicates analysis; it also fails to resolve the inconsistency.
- ✗
Convert System B's exact income to ranges matching System A, then combine
Why it's wrong here
This loses detail from System B and reduces measurement level from ratio to ordinal.
- ✓
Impute System A's categorical data with the midpoint of each range to create a continuous numeric field, then combine with System B's exact values
Why this is correct
This preserves detail from System B and creates a usable numeric field from System A for analysis.
- ✗
Use only System B's data and discard System A because it is less precise
Why it's wrong here
Discarding data loses valuable customer information from System A.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every DA0-002 question from scratch — 986 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.