DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
A company stores customer information in a table with columns CustomerID, Name, Address, and PhoneNumber. Every row has values for all these columns, and the data follows a fixed schema. Which type of data does this represent?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse 'semi-structured' with 'structured' because both have some organization, but the key distinction is that structured data enforces a fixed schema for all rows, while semi-structured data allows schema flexibility (e.g., missing attributes or varying data types).
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
✓
Structured data
Structured data conforms to a fixed schema where each row has the same columns and data types. The table with CustomerID, Name, Address, and PhoneNumber, where every row contains values for all columns, perfectly fits this definition. This is typical of relational database tables (e.g., in Azure SQL Database) where the schema is enforced at the table level.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Unstructured data
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect because unstructured data has no predefined schema or fixed column layout, encompassing formats like text documents, images, audio, and video. Customer information in a table necessarily imposes a consistent structure by defining specific columns for attributes such as names, addresses, and phone numbers. Thus, it cannot be classified as unstructured.
- ✗
Semi-structured data
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect because semi-structured data, such as JSON, XML, or key-value pairs, permits variation in fields or nested elements between records, so different customers might have different property sets. A relational table with explicit, uniform columns and enforced data types does not allow this schema flexibility. Therefore, although semi-structured data has some organization, it does not match the fixed tabular schema described in the question.
- ✓
Structured data
Why this is correct
This option is correct because a table with defined columns and specified data types is the hallmark of structured data, which conforms to a fixed schema typical of relational database management systems. Each customer record will have the same set of attributes, and constraints enforce consistency, allowing efficient querying with SQL. Since the company stores customer information in such a normalized, column-based format, the data is structured.
- ✗
Streaming data
Why it's wrong here
This option is incorrect because streaming data describes a data-in-motion processing model where records are generated continuously from devices, logs, or events and processed incrementally, not a classification of data's structural format. A table of customer information represents data at rest, stored persistently with a defined schema, regardless of whether new records might be added over time. Consequently, the storage format of the table is structured, not streaming.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
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.
Key term
Azure SQL Database
Azure SQL Database is a fully managed relational database-as-a-service (DBaaS) in Microsoft Azure, based on the SQL Server engine, that handles scaling, backups, patching, and high availability automatically.
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