DP-900 Describe core data concepts Practice Question
A company is building a data lake and collects data from three sources: (1) a relational database exporting CSV files with fixed columns for customer records, (2) API responses stored as JSON files with varying fields for product reviews, and (3) scanned handwritten notes stored as TIFF images. Which statement correctly categorizes these data by structure type?
⚠ Common exam trap
Test-takers frequently confuse semi-structured data (like JSON with varying fields) with unstructured data, or assuming that any file format (like CSV) is always structured regardless of content consistency.
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
✓
1: structured, 2: semi-structured, 3: unstructured
CSV files from a relational database have a fixed schema (rows and columns), making them structured data. JSON files from API responses with varying fields are semi-structured, as they use tags/keys to organize data without a rigid schema. TIFF images of handwritten notes are unstructured, lacking a predefined data model or organization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
1: structured, 2: semi-structured, 3: unstructured
Why this is correct
This classification is accurate because the CSV export from a relational database holds tabular data with predefined columns and data types, making it structured. The JSON feed uses key-value pairs with a flexible schema, allowing varying fields per record, which defines semi-structured data. The collection of images has no inherent schema or parsing rules, so it falls unambiguously under unstructured data.
- ✗
1: semi-structured, 2: structured, 3: unstructured
Why it's wrong here
This ordering mislabels the CSV, which has a fixed column layout and datatypes inherited from a relational database, so it is inherently structured rather than semi-structured. Conversely, the JSON payload does have an internal structure of named fields, but because those fields can differ between objects and nests flexibly, it is classified as semi-structured, not fully structured. The image files remain unstructured, so the only correct label here is for the third source.
- ✗
1: structured, 2: unstructured, 3: semi-structured
Why it's wrong here
The first label correctly identifies the CSV as structured due to its fixed schema from the relational source, but the mistake is on the JSON: JSON does have organizing syntax and tags, yet its lack of a rigid schema makes it semi-structured, not unstructured. Images are binary data without metadata like fields or row/column relationships, making them unstructured, not semi-structured. This swap of the second and third classifications fails to distinguish between lightly ordered data and data with no order at all.
- ✗
1: unstructured, 2: semi-structured, 3: structured
Why it's wrong here
Placing CSV under unstructured is fundamentally wrong, as a CSV export from a relational database has a well-defined table structure, rows, and columns, so it is clearly structured data. The JSON is correctly identified as semi-structured since it contains named properties but allows schema flexibility, but the images are not structured because they lack any embedded schema or field hierarchy. The error reverses the true relationship, mixing the highest level of organization with the lowest and vice versa.
Go deeper
Related to this question
Learn chapter
Data Roles and Core Concepts
Key term
Data lake
A data lake is a centralized storage repository that holds vast amounts of raw data in its native format until it is needed for analysis.
Key term
Data
Data is raw, unprocessed information, like numbers, words, or measurements, that can be stored, processed, and analyzed by computers.
About these practice questions
This DP-900 question is part of Courseiva's 820-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
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.