Data and Analytics Business Intelligence 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a fact table in a data warehouse?
- A table containing only textual descriptions
- A central table storing measurable, numeric business metrics and foreign keys to dimensions (Correct answer)
- A lookup table for product codes
- A table containing database configuration settings
Correct answer: A central table storing measurable, numeric business metrics and foreign keys to dimensions
A fact table stores quantitative business metrics (like sales revenue or order quantity) along with foreign keys linking to dimension tables.
Question 2: What is a snowflake schema in data warehousing?
- A schema designed for cold storage data
- A variation of the star schema where dimension tables are normalized into sub-dimensions (Correct answer)
- A schema with no fact tables
- A star schema with only one dimension
Correct answer: A variation of the star schema where dimension tables are normalized into sub-dimensions
A snowflake schema normalizes dimension tables into multiple related tables, reducing redundancy at the cost of more complex joins.
Question 3: What is the purpose of a BI semantic layer?
- To encrypt business data for security
- To provide a business-friendly abstraction layer between raw data and end users (Correct answer)
- To store raw transaction data
- To manage cloud infrastructure
Correct answer: To provide a business-friendly abstraction layer between raw data and end users
A semantic layer translates technical database structures into business terms, allowing non-technical users to query data using familiar business concepts.
Question 4: What is ad hoc reporting in business intelligence?
- Scheduled reports generated automatically at fixed intervals
- Custom, on-demand reports created by users to answer specific questions (Correct answer)
- Reports generated by AI without user input
- Standard reports built by IT departments
Correct answer: Custom, on-demand reports created by users to answer specific questions
Ad hoc reporting allows business users to create custom, one-time reports on demand without relying on IT, using self-service BI tools.
Question 5: What does 'self-service BI' mean?
- BI tools that don't require vendor support
- Empowering business users to access, analyze, and visualize data without IT assistance (Correct answer)
- Automated reporting without any human involvement
- BI systems that manage their own infrastructure
Correct answer: Empowering business users to access, analyze, and visualize data without IT assistance
Self-service BI enables non-technical business users to create reports, dashboards, and analyses without depending on IT or data engineers.
Question 6: What is data governance in a BI context?
- Government regulations about data storage
- The framework of policies, processes, and standards ensuring data quality, security, and proper use (Correct answer)
- Technical controls on database access
- A reporting process mandated by auditors
Correct answer: The framework of policies, processes, and standards ensuring data quality, security, and proper use
Data governance establishes the policies, roles, and procedures that ensure data is accurate, consistent, secure, and used appropriately across the organization.
Data and Analytics Business Intelligence 2
What is a fact table in a data warehouse?