SF-Data-Arch Data Modeling and Database Design Practice Question
A Data Architect is analyzing a legacy system migration. Which THREE factors should be evaluated before deciding between a Lookup or a Master-Detail relationship?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often overlook the security and ownership implications, forgetting that child records in a Master-Detail relationship do not have their own owner field and inherit parent security.
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
✓
Whether child records should be automatically deleted if the parent is deleted.
Choosing the right relationship is foundational to Salesforce architecture. Factors like data ownership, lifecycle dependency, and reporting needs drive the decision. A Master-Detail relationship implies structural dependency, while a Lookup offers flexibility. Understanding these nuances early in the migration prevents architectural debt, ensures correct security enforcement, and aligns the data model with the organization's business process requirements for record access and summarization.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Whether child records should be automatically deleted if the parent is deleted.
Why this is correct
Master-detail relationships feature cascading deletes, where child records are automatically removed when their parent is deleted. If the business requirement dictates that records should persist independently of the parent, a Lookup relationship is necessary to avoid data loss and maintain the integrity of the child records.
- ✓
The need for roll-up summary fields on the parent object.
Why this is correct
Roll-up summary fields are natively supported only in master-detail relationships. If the parent object requires automated calculations like count, sum, min, or max of related child data, a master-detail relationship must be used, or custom code (like triggers or flows) would be required to mimic this functionality.
- ✗
The number of child records expected to be created.
Why it's wrong here
The number of child records does not dictate the relationship type. Both lookups and master-detail relationships can handle millions of records. Performance issues arise from relationship skew, but simply having a high volume of records does not mandate one relationship type over the other in the Salesforce data model.
- ✓
Whether the child record needs to have its own owner.
Why this is correct
In a master-detail relationship, the child record does not have its own owner field; it inherits the security of the parent. If the business requires individual child records to be owned by different users, a Lookup relationship is required to grant each record an independent Owner field.
- ✗
The color of the record detail page header.
Why it's wrong here
UI aesthetics like header colors are not impacted by the choice of relationship type. These are configurable through branding and page layouts. Basing architectural decisions on visual design elements is an anti-pattern that ignores functional database requirements, such as data integrity, security, and record lifecycle management.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Salesforce exam blueprint
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