Database Management & Information Systems Flashcards

Which NoSQL database type stores data as flexible JSON-like documents rather than rows and columns?

Answer: Document store

Document stores (e.g., MongoDB) organize data as self-describing documents with nested fields, allowing variable schema per record.

What is a stored procedure in a relational database?

Answer: A precompiled set of SQL statements stored and executed on the server

A stored procedure is a named, precompiled block of SQL code saved in the database and executed by calling its name.

In the context of data mining, 'classification' refers to:

Answer: Assigning records to predefined categories based on attributes

Classification algorithms train on labeled data to predict the category of new records, such as spam vs. not-spam.

Which phenomenon occurs when a transaction reads data that has been modified but not yet committed by another transaction?

Answer: Dirty read

A dirty read happens when one transaction reads uncommitted changes of another, which may later be rolled back.

What is the role of a data dictionary (system catalog) in a DBMS?

Answer: To store metadata describing the structure of the database

The data dictionary holds metadata—descriptions of tables, columns, data types, constraints, and access rights—used by the DBMS itself.

Which SQL constraint ensures that a column value must exist as a primary key in another table?

Answer: FOREIGN KEY constraint

A FOREIGN KEY constraint enforces referential integrity by requiring that the column's value match a primary key in the referenced (parent) table.

In information systems theory, which level of management is primarily served by Executive Information Systems (EIS)?

Answer: Strategic (top management) level

EIS provides senior executives with summarized, high-level information to support long-term strategic planning and decision-making.