DA0-002 Data Concepts and Environments Practice Question
A retail company stores customer purchase history in a relational database. The database contains a table 'transactions' with columns: transaction_id, customer_id, product_id, quantity, price, and transaction_date. A data analyst needs to create a report that shows total revenue per customer for the last quarter. Which data concept describes the relationship between customer_id and total revenue?
⚠ Common exam trap
CompTIA often tests the confusion between a derived attribute (computed from other attributes) and a foreign key (a referential constraint), leading candidates to incorrectly select 'foreign key' because customer_id appears in multiple tables.
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
✓
Derived attribute
Total revenue is calculated by summing (quantity * price) for each customer, making it a derived attribute because it is computed from existing stored data (quantity and price) rather than stored directly. In the context of the 'transactions' table, customer_id is a stored key, but total_revenue is not stored; it is derived via aggregation, which matches the definition of a derived attribute in database design.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Foreign key
Why it's wrong here
Foreign key links tables, not derived values.
- ✗
Composite attribute
Why it's wrong here
Composite attributes are made of sub-attributes, not derived.
- ✓
Derived attribute
Why this is correct
Total revenue is calculated from other attributes, making it derived.
- ✗
Atomic attribute
Why it's wrong here
customer_id is atomic, but total revenue is derived.
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