DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
A company collects customer feedback forms. Each form contains always-present fields like CustomerID and SubmissionDate, but also a free-text Comments field and optional fields like Rating or ProductCategory that vary between forms. How should this data be classified?
⚠ Common exam trap
Microsoft often tests the misconception that any data with some structure (like a form with fixed fields) must be 'structured,' but the presence of optional or free-text fields pushes it into the semi-structured category.
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
✓
Semi-structured data
The customer feedback forms contain a mix of structured fields (CustomerID, SubmissionDate) that follow a fixed schema and unstructured fields (free-text Comments) plus optional fields (Rating, ProductCategory) that may or may not be present. This combination of schema-optional and schema-fixed data within the same record is the hallmark of semi-structured data, which does not require a rigid schema like a relational table but still has some organizational properties (e.g., tags or key-value pairs). In Azure, this data is well-suited for storage in Azure Cosmos DB (using JSON documents) or Azure Blob Storage with metadata, rather than a strictly relational database.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Structured data
Why it's wrong here
Structured data requires a fixed schema in which every record contains the same set of fields, each with a predefined data type. In the customer feedback form example, the presence of optional fields that vary from form to form breaks this strict uniformity, forcing null placeholders or frequent schema alterations if stored in a pure structured system. Thus, while some fields may be predictable, the overall dataset does not meet the rigid table-schema definition of structured data.
- ✓
Semi-structured data
Why this is correct
Semi-structured data is the correct classification because the feedback forms contain a flexible, self-describing schema with some mandatory fields and many optional or form-specific fields. This variability is characteristic of formats such as JSON or XML, where tags or keys identify each field and missing fields simply are absent rather than requiring placeholders. The forms do not fit a rigid relational table, but they still impose enough order to rule out being completely unstructured.
- ✗
Unstructured data
Why it's wrong here
Unstructured data has no predefined data model or organizational structure; examples include freeform survey comments, social media posts, images, audio, and video. Although the feedback forms may contain free-text fields, they also include defined fields and labels such as customer name, rating, or date, giving the forms an identifiable structure. Because the overall form is composed of organized, named fields with variable optional values, it is not accurate to characterize the entire dataset as unstructured.
- ✗
Relational data
Why it's wrong here
Relational data is a specific implementation of structured data where entities are stored in normalized tables with fixed columns and rows, linked through primary and foreign keys. While the feedback data could be adapted to a relational model by adding nullable columns or creating child tables for optional fields, that adaptation would force a rigid schema that masks the natural variability present in the forms. In its original form, the data is better described as semi-structured because its schema is not fixed and does not rely on a relational tabular design.
Quick reference
Azure Blob Storage Tier Comparison
| Tier | Storage Cost | Retrieval Cost | Latency | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot | Highest | Lowest | Immediate | Active data, frequent reads |
| Cool | Lower | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / month |
| Cold | Lower still | Higher | Immediate | Data accessed < once / quarter |
| Archive | Lowest | Highest + rehydration delay | Hours | Long-term compliance retention |
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
Key term
Relational database
A relational database organizes data into tables with rows and columns, where each table relates to others using unique keys, allowing efficient storage, retrieval, and manipulation of structured information.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This DP-900 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Microsoft 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 DP-900 exam.