DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

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

• ✗

  Employee records: structured, Employee handbooks: semi-structured, Customer feedback: unstructured

  Why it's wrong here

  This option errs by calling PDF handbooks semi-structured: although they contain headings and formatting, they lack a formal schema or field-level metadata that a system can use to parse values, so they remain unstructured. It also misfiles XML feedback as unstructured, but XML's tags and hierarchical elements impose a partial structure on the data, making it semi-structured rather than a blob of text. Only the employee records classification is correct.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question classified PDF files as semi-structured (e.g., because they contain metadata or internal structure) and XML as unstructured (e.g., if the XML is free-form without a schema), then option A would be correct.

• ✓

  Employee records: structured, Employee handbooks: unstructured, Customer feedback: semi-structured

  Why this is correct

  Employee records stored in a relational database have a fixed, predefined schema with columns, data types, and constraints, making them structured data. Employee handbooks are PDF documents containing free-form prose and formatting without any uniform data model, so they are unstructured. Customer feedback in XML uses custom tags and nesting such as <response> and <sentiment> to describe the content, giving it a self-describing yet flexible schema that qualifies as semi-structured.

• ✗

  Employee records: semi-structured, Employee handbooks: unstructured, Customer feedback: structured

  Why it's wrong here

  The mistake here is labeling employee records semi-structured; a relational table ensures every row conforms to the same column definitions and data types, which is the defining characteristic of structured data. Customer feedback written in XML is also called structured incorrectly: XML does not require a fixed schema and allows varying nested tags, so it belongs in the semi-structured category. Handbooks as unstructured PDFs are actually correct.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question described employee records stored as JSON files (semi-structured) and customer feedback stored in a relational database table (structured), then option C would be correct.

• ✗

  Employee records: unstructured, Employee handbooks: semi-structured, Customer feedback: structured

  Why it's wrong here

  This answer gets all three classifications wrong. Relational employee records are not unstructured, because the table's schema rigidly controls keys, column types, and relationships. PDF handbooks are not semi-structured, since they are narrative documents without tags, key/value pairs, or a machine-readable schema. XML customer feedback is not structured, because its tag-based, tree-like format is flexible and only partially organized, the hallmarks of semi-structured data.

  When this WOULD be correct

  If the question described employee records as free-form text files (e.g., .txt), employee handbooks as JSON files, and customer feedback as a fixed-schema SQL table, then option D would be correct.

Option-by-option analysis

Why each answer is right or wrong

Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The DP-900 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.

Analysis generated from the official DP-900blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”

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