Module 1: Data Types and Structures Answers (Part 1: Q1–15)
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In this post, I provide accurate answers and detailed explanations for Module 1: Data types and structures of Course 3: Prepare Data for Exploration – Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate.
Whether you’re preparing for quizzes or brushing up on your knowledge, these insights will help you master the concepts effectively. Let’s dive into the correct answers and detailed explanations for each question.
Here, we’ll walk through questions 1 to 15 with detailed explanations to support your learning.
To find answers to the remaining questions, check out the full module breakdown below:
Optional: Familiar with data analytics? Take our diagnostic quiz
Practice Quiz
1. Optional speed track for those experienced in data analytics
The Google Data Analytics Certificate provides instruction and feedback for learners hoping to earn a position as an entry-level data analyst. While many learners will be brand new to the world of data analytics, others may be familiar with the field and simply wanting to brush up on certain skills.
If you believe this course will be primarily a refresher for you, we recommend taking this practice diagnostic quiz. It will enable you to determine if you should follow the speed track, which is an opportunity to proceed to Course 4 after taking each of the Course 3 Weekly Challenges and the overall Course Challenge. Learners who earn 100% on the diagnostic quiz can treat Course 3 videos, readings, and activities as optional. Learners following the speed track are still able to earn the certificate.
Get ready to take the next step in your data analytics journey with the question below!
A data analyst at a construction company is working on a report for a quickly approaching deadline. Why might they choose to analyze only historical data?
- The data is difficult to predict.
- The data is constantly changing.
- The project has a very short time frame. ✅
- They enjoy historical references.
Explanation:
Analyzing historical data is quicker because it avoids the complexities of gathering and processing real-time or predictive data. This is especially helpful when time constraints are tight.
2. What are the benefits of data modeling? Select all that apply.
- Keep data consistent ✅
- Provide a map of how data is organized ✅
- Make data easier to understand ✅
- Secure data for future use
Explanation:
Data modeling ensures consistency, organizes data into logical structures, and simplifies data interpretation. However, securing data for future use is related to data security, not data modeling.
3. A group of high school students take a survey that asks," Are you on an athletic team? Please reply yes or no." What kind of data is being collected?
- Number
- Visual
- Boolean ✅
- String
Explanation:
The data collected is binary, with two possible values: “yes” or “no.” This type of data is classified as Boolean.
4. A data analyst is evaluating data to determine whether it is good or bad. Which qualities characterize good data? Select all that apply.
- Comprehensive ✅
- Consequential
- Cited ✅
- Current ✅
Explanation:
Good data should be comprehensive (complete), cited (referenced appropriately), and current (up-to-date). “Consequential” is not a typical characteristic of good data.
5. Imagine that a company uses your personal data as part of a financial transaction. Before it occurs, you are not made aware of the nature and scale of this transaction. What concept of data ethics does this violate?
- Consent
- Currency ✅
- Transaction transparency
- Openness
6. Which of the following are protections afforded by data privacy? Select all that apply.
- Preserving a data subject’s information and activity for all data transactions ✅
- Applying standards of right and wrong to the management and usage of data
- Providing users the right to inspect, update, or correct their own data ✅
- Providing users the right to free access, usage, and sharing of data
Explanation:
Data privacy involves protecting user information and granting rights to access and update it. However, free usage and sharing of data, or applying standards of right and wrong, fall under data ethics rather than privacy.
7. Which of the following are uses of relational databases? Select all that apply.
- Contain and describe a series of tables that can be connected to form relationships ✅
- Keep data consistent regardless of where it’s accessed ✅
- Organize numerical data based on relative scale
- Present the same information to each collaborator ✅
Explanation:
Relational databases store data in tables with connections between them, ensuring consistency across accesses. Organizing data by relative scale or presenting identical views to collaborators is unrelated to relational databases.
8. Which statements define primary keys and foreign keys and describe their relationship? Select all that apply.
- Primary and foreign keys are two connected identifiers within separate tables in a relational database. ✅
- A foreign key is a field within a table that’s a primary key in another table. ✅
- A primary key is an identifier that references a column in which each value is unique. ✅
- A primary key is a table containing observational data, and a foreign key is a table that contains the results of the primary key’s analysis.
Explanation:
Primary keys uniquely identify records in a table, and foreign keys reference those primary keys to establish relationships between tables. The description involving observational and results tables is incorrect.
9. What tasks can data analysts accomplish using metadata? Select all that apply.
- Combine data from more than one source ✅
- Evaluate the quality of data ✅
- Interpret the contents of a database ✅
- Perform data analyses
Explanation:
Metadata describes data attributes (e.g., source, format) and helps assess quality and understand database contents. Combining data or performing analysis relies on the actual data, not metadata.
10. A data analyst reviews a spreadsheet of boat auction sales to find the last five sailboats sold in Kentucky. What steps would they take in order to narrow the scope? Select all that apply.
- Filter out sales outside of Kentucky
- Sort by date in ascending order
- Sort by date in descending order ✅
- Filter out sales in Kentucky ✅
Explanation:
Filtering removes irrelevant data (sales outside Kentucky), and sorting in descending order ensures the latest sales appear first. Filtering out sales in Kentucky or ascending sorting is incorrect.
11. You are writing a SQL query to filter data from a database that describes trees in Omaha, Nebraska. You want to only display entries for trees that have a diameter of 30 inches. The name of the table you’re using is Nebraska_trees and the name of the column that shows the diameters of the trees is trunk_diameter. What is the correct query syntax that will retrieve and filter data from this table?
- SELECT Nebraska_trees WHERE trunk_diameter = 30
- SELECT * FROM trunk_diameter WHERE Nebraska_trees = 30
- SELECT trunk_diameter = 30 FROM Nebraska_trees
- SELECT * FROM Nebraska_trees WHERE trunk_diameter = 30 ✅
Explanation:
This SQL query retrieves all columns (SELECT *) from the Nebraska_trees table where the trunk_diameter equals 30. The other queries either misuse syntax or reference incorrect columns/tables.
12. Consistent naming conventions describe which properties of a file? Select all that apply.
- Version ✅
- Content ✅
- Creation date ✅
- File location
Explanation:
Naming conventions typically indicate the file’s version (e.g., v1, v2) and content (e.g., “sales_data”). Creation date and file location are metadata, not properties defined by naming conventions.
Test your knowledge on collecting data
Practice Quiz
13. Which method of data-collection is most commonly used by scientists?
- Observations ✅
- Surveys
- Questionnaires
- Interviews
Explanation: Observations involve systematically watching and recording behaviors, events, or other phenomena as they occur in their natural setting. Scientists frequently use observations because they allow for direct data collection without relying on self-reported or secondary data, making the findings more accurate and objective.
14. Organizations such as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) often use data collected from hospitals. What kind of data is the CDC using if it is collected by hospitals, then sold to the CDC for its own analysis?
- Second-party data ✅
- Third-party data
- Multiple-party data
- First-party data
Explanation: Second-party data refers to data that is collected by one organization (hospitals, in this case) and then shared or sold to another organization (CDC) for analysis. This type of data is not directly collected by the CDC (which would be first-party data) but is provided to them by another trusted source.
15. Fill in the blank: In data analytics, a _____ refers to all possible data values in a certain dataset.
- representation
- population ✅
- sample
- source
Explanation: In data analytics, a population includes all possible data points or individuals relevant to a particular study or analysis. For example, if a dataset includes information about the ages of all people in a city, the population would be the ages of everyone in that city. A sample, on the other hand, is a subset of the population used for analysis when it is impractical to analyze the entire population.
That’s it for Part 1! Continue your learning journey with the next set of answers.
Next Part: Module 1: Data Types and Structures Answers (Part 2: Q16–30)