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DA0-002 Data Analysis Practice Question

Exhibit

SELECT department, COUNT(*) as employee_count FROM employees WHERE hire_year > 2020 GROUP BY department HAVING COUNT(*) > 5;

Refer to the exhibit. Which clause is used to aggregate the data by department?

⚠ Common exam trap

CompTIA often tests the distinction between WHERE (row-level filter) and HAVING (group-level filter), leading candidates to confuse HAVING with GROUP BY when the question asks for the clause that performs aggregation.

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

✓

GROUP BY

The GROUP BY clause is used to aggregate data by department because it groups rows that have the same values in the specified column(s), allowing aggregate functions like SUM, AVG, or COUNT to be applied per group. In SQL, without GROUP BY, aggregate functions would operate on the entire result set, not per department.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
HAVING
Why it's wrong here
HAVING filters groups after aggregation, not the grouping itself.
✗
WHERE
Why it's wrong here
WHERE filters rows before grouping, not used for grouping.
✗
ORDER BY
Why it's wrong here
ORDER BY sorts the result set, not related to grouping.
✓
GROUP BY
Why this is correct
GROUP BY groups rows by department, allowing COUNT to compute per-department totals.

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DA0-002 Data Analysis Practice Question

Exhibit

Why each option matters

Option-by-option breakdown

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