easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
FC0-U71 Practice Question: A small independent bookstore has been operating…
A small independent bookstore has been operating for several years using a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to manage its inventory, sales, and customer data. The spreadsheet contains over 10,000 rows and is shared among five employees. Recently, employees have noticed recurring data quality issues: the same book appears multiple times in the inventory list with different prices, some sales records reference book titles that do not exist in the inventory, and customer contact information is duplicated across rows. Because there are no constraints, employees can enter any value into any cell. The owner wants to implement a more robust system to eliminate data redundancy and ensure data integrity. The bookstore has a budget for new software and some technical support. The owner is not very technical but is willing to hire a consultant. Which action should be taken to best address these problems?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers choose data validation (Option D) thinking it can enforce integrity, but they overlook that spreadsheets lack relational constraints and cannot prevent duplicate rows or cross-table inconsistencies across multiple users.
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
✓
Migrate to a relational database with normalized tables and foreign key constraints
Migrating to a relational database with normalized tables and foreign key constraints directly addresses the data redundancy and integrity issues. Normalization splits data into separate tables (e.g., Books, Sales, Customers) to eliminate duplicate entries, while foreign key constraints ensure that every sales record references a valid book and that customer data is stored once. This approach enforces referential integrity and prevents the anomalies seen in the flat spreadsheet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use a single flat file for all data to simplify data entry
Why it's wrong here
A flat file would increase redundancy and integrity issues.
- ✗
Implement a NoSQL database for flexibility
Why it's wrong here
NoSQL is overkill and may not enforce the needed integrity.
- ✓
Migrate to a relational database with normalized tables and foreign key constraints
Why this is correct
Normalization reduces redundancy, and foreign keys enforce referential integrity.
- ✗
Continue using the spreadsheet but add data validation rules to restrict input
Why it's wrong here
Validation rules can be bypassed and do not eliminate existing duplicates.
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