DA0-002 Data Acquisition and Preparation Practice Question
Which TWO are valid data acquisition methods? (Select two.)
⚠ Common exam trap
DA0-002 often tests the confusion between data acquisition (collecting data) and data preparation activities (normalizing, profiling, encrypting), which are downstream steps in the data pipeline.
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
✓
Web scraping
Web scraping (A) is a valid data acquisition method because it programmatically extracts data from web pages, typically via HTTP requests and HTML parsing (e.g., using libraries like BeautifulSoup or Scrapy), making it a recognized way to collect data from sources that lack a formal data feed. API calls (C) are also a valid acquisition method, since they retrieve structured data directly from a service's application programming interface using protocols such as REST/HTTP or SOAP, often returning JSON or XML payloads. In contrast, data normalization (B) is a data preparation/transformation step that scales or restructures values, not a way to obtain data. Data encryption (D) is a security control that protects data confidentiality, and data profiling (E) is an analysis technique that examines data quality and structure — neither acquires new data.
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 this is correct
Web scraping programmatically extracts data from web pages, making it a recognised acquisition method for gathering external, publicly available datasets. It satisfies the stem's requirement for valid acquisition methods, alongside APIs, by pulling content directly from source sites.
- ✗
Data normalization
Why it's wrong here
Data normalization rescales values into a common range or distribution, which is a transformation step applied after acquisition, not a means of collecting data. It is tempting because it genuinely belongs in preprocessing pipelines, where it would be the right choice when preparing features for algorithms sensitive to differing scales.
- ✓
API calls
Why this is correct
API calls retrieve data through defined endpoints, returning structured responses from a provider's system. This satisfies the stem's requirement for valid acquisition methods, since APIs are a standard, documented means of programmatically acquiring data rather than a transformation or storage technique.
- ✗
Data encryption
Why it's wrong here
Data encryption protects data at rest or in transit and does not acquire it from any source. It is applied as a security control during storage or transmission, for example encrypting files before loading them into a warehouse.
- ✗
Data profiling
Why it's wrong here
Data profiling examines existing datasets to assess quality, structure and statistics; it does not ingest data from source systems. It is used during data assessment and discovery, after acquisition, to characterise datasets and inform cleansing and modelling decisions.
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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.