University of South-Eastern Norway

Information Technology and Information Systems

Database 2 (DAT2000)

Answers to the end-of-chapter tasks in (Connolly & Begg, 2015)¹. They are divided into Review Questions and into Exercises. This is for Connoly & Begg, 2015, p.80-81 ¹ .

Review Questions of chapter 1

1. List four government sectors in your country that use database systems.

2. Discuss each of the following terms:

   • (a) data
   • (b) database
   • (c) database management system
   • (d) database application program
   • (e) data independence
   • (f) security
   • (g) integrity
   • (h) views

3. Describe the role of database management systems (DBMS) in the database approach. Discuss why knowledge of DBMS is important for database administrators.

4. Describe the main characteristics of the database approach and contrast it with the file-based approach.

5. Describe the five components of the DBMS environment and discuss how they relate to each other.

6. Discuss the roles of the following personell in the database environment:

   • (a) data administrator
   • (b) database administrator
   • (c) logical database designer
   • (d) physical database designer
   • (e) application developer
   • (f) end-users

7. Discuss the three generations of DBMSs

8. Why are views an important aspect of database management systems?

Exercises

9. Interview some users of database systems. Which DBMS features do they find most useful and why? Which DBMS facilities do they find least useful and why? What do these users perceive to be the advantages and disadvantages of the DBMS?

10. A database approach addresses several of the problems and challenges associated with the traditional file-based approach. Using a DBMS to control how data is shared with different applications and users, trough applications such as views, has a number of advantages. However, the implementation of a database approach has its own challenges, such as expense. Discuss the various costs associated with the implementation of a database approach.

11. Study the DreamHome case study presented in Section 11.4 and Appendix A.

    • (a) In what ways would a DBMS help this organization?
    • (b) What do you think are the main objects that need to be represented in the database?
    • (c) What relationships do you think exist between these main objects?
    • (d) For each of the objects, what details do you think need to be stored in the database?
    • (e) What queries do you think are required?

12. Study the Wellmeadows Hospital case study presented in Appendix B.3.

    • (a) In what ways would a DBMS help this organization?
    • (b) What do you think are the main objects that need to be represented in the database?
    • (c) What relationships do you think exist between these main objects?
    • (d) For each of the objects, what details do you think need to be stored in the database?
    • (e) What queries do you think are required?

13. Discuss what you consider to be the three most important advantages for the use of a DBMS for a company like DreamHome and provide a justification for your selection. Discuss what you consider to be the three most important disadvantages for the use of a DBMS for a company like DreamHome and provide a justification for your selection.

14. Organizations have a vital need for quality information. Discuss how the following database roles relate to each other.

    • (a) Data Administrator
    • (b) Database Administrator
    • (c) Database Designer
    • (d) Application Developer
    • (e) End-Users

Footnotes

1. Begg, C. & Connolly, T. (2015). Database Systems: A Practical Approach to Design, Implementation, and Management Global Edition(6th edition.). Pearson Education. ↩ ↩²