ADC Data Quality & Validation 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Cross-field validation checks which of the following?
- That a field value matches a lookup table
- That the relationship between two or more fields within a record is logically correct (Correct answer)
- That a field does not exceed its maximum length
- That a numeric field falls within a defined range
Correct answer: That the relationship between two or more fields within a record is logically correct
Cross-field validation ensures that the combination of values across multiple fields is logically consistent, such as verifying that an end date is always after a start date.
Question 2: Which metric is used to express the percentage of records that contain all required fields with valid values?
- Accuracy rate
- Completeness rate (Correct answer)
- Duplication ratio
- Conformity score
Correct answer: Completeness rate
The completeness rate is calculated as the ratio of records with all required fields populated to the total number of records, expressed as a percentage.
Question 3: In data quality management, what is a 'golden record'?
- A record that has passed all security audits
- The single authoritative, most accurate version of a data entity compiled from multiple sources (Correct answer)
- A backup copy stored in an offsite location
- A record that has never been modified since creation
Correct answer: The single authoritative, most accurate version of a data entity compiled from multiple sources
A golden record is the master, trusted version of an entity's data that is created by merging and deduplicating information from multiple source systems.
Question 4: What does 'data timeliness' refer to in the context of data quality?
- How quickly data can be queried from a database
- The degree to which data is available and up-to-date when needed for use (Correct answer)
- The speed at which data is written to disk
- The frequency with which data is backed up
Correct answer: The degree to which data is available and up-to-date when needed for use
Timeliness measures whether data is current and accessible at the moment it is needed for decision-making or processing.
Question 5: Which approach involves using statistical methods to identify records that deviate significantly from expected patterns?
- Referential integrity checking
- Schema validation
- Outlier detection (Correct answer)
- Format normalization
Correct answer: Outlier detection
Outlier detection uses statistical techniques such as z-scores or interquartile range to identify data values that fall far outside the expected distribution.
Question 6: A 'conformity' check in data validation ensures that:
- Records are unique across the dataset
- Data values adhere to a specified format, standard, or domain of acceptable values (Correct answer)
- The database schema matches the data dictionary
- All foreign key references resolve to existing primary keys
Correct answer: Data values adhere to a specified format, standard, or domain of acceptable values
Conformity validation verifies that data values match a required format or standard, such as ensuring phone numbers follow the (XXX) XXX-XXXX pattern.
Question 7: Which of the following is an example of a business rule validation?
- Ensuring a ZIP code field contains exactly 5 digits
- Verifying that an employee's salary does not exceed their manager's salary (Correct answer)
- Checking that a date field contains a valid calendar date
- Confirming that a primary key column has no null values
Correct answer: Verifying that an employee's salary does not exceed their manager's salary
Business rule validations enforce organization-specific logic, such as hierarchical salary constraints, that go beyond simple format or type checks.
ADC Data Quality & Validation 2
Cross-field validation checks which of the following?