CHAPTER 4: ENTITY RELATIONSHIP (ER) MODELING

1. The entity relationship model (ERM) is dependent on the database type.

a. True
b. False

ANSWER: False

2. An entity in the entity relationship model corresponds to a table in the relational environment.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

3. In the entity relationship model, a table row corresponds to an entity instance.

a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

4. In the Chen and Crow’s Foot notations, an entity is represented with a rectangle containing the entity’s name.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

5. In the original Chen notation, each attribute is represented by an oval with the attribute name connected to an
entity rectangle with a line.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

6. A composite identifier is a primary key composed of more than one attribute.

a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

7. Relationships between entities always operate in one direction.

a. True
b. False

ANSWER: False

8. Connectivities and cardinalities are established by concise statements known as business rules.
a. True
b. False

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling

ANSWER: True

9. A weak relationship exists if the primary key of the related entity contains at least one primary key component
of the parent entity.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: False

10. In a 1:M relationship, to avoid the possibility of referential integrity errors, the data of the “1” side must be
loaded first.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
11. Referential integrity and participation are both bidirectional, meaning that they must be addressed in both
directions along a relationship.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: False

12. A weak entity has a primary key that is partially or totally derived from the parent entity in the relationship.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

13. To implement a small database, a database designer must know the “1” and the “M” sides of each relationship
and whether the relationships are mandatory or optional.
a. True
b. False

ANSWER: True

14. The entity relationship diagram (ERD) represents the database as viewed by the end user.
a. condensed b. physical
c. logical d. conceptual

ANSWER: d

15. The notation of entity-relationship modelling can be used for both conceptual and implementation
modelling.
a. Bachman b. UML
c. Chen d. Crow’s Foot

ANSWER: b
16. A(n) is the set of possible values for a given attribute.
a. domain b. range
c. identifier d. key

ANSWER: a

17. Ideally, an entity identifier is composed of attribute(s).

a. three b. one
c. two d. six

ANSWER: b

18. A attribute can be further subdivided to yield additional attributes.

a. composite b. simple
c. single-valued d. multivalued

ANSWER: a

19. A attribute is one that cannot be subdivided.

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
a. composite b. simple
c. single-valued d. multivalued

ANSWER: b

20. The conceptual model can handle relationships and multivalued attributes.
a. 1:1 b. M:N
c. 1:M d. 1:N

ANSWER: b

21. A derived attribute is indicated in the Chen notation by a that connects the attribute and an entity.
a. single line b. dashed line
c. double dashed line d. double line

ANSWER: b

22. The decision to store attributes in database tables depends on the processing requirements and the
constraints placed on a particular application.
a. multivalued b. derived
c. single-valued d. composite

ANSWER: b

23. A relationship is an association between .

a. objects b. entities
c. databases d. fields

ANSWER: b

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling

24. expresses the minimum and maximum number of entity occurrences associated with one occurrence of
the related entity.
a. Connectivity b. Relationship
c. Dependence d. Cardinality

ANSWER: d

25. In the entity relationship diagram (ERD), cardinality is indicated using the notation, where max is the
maximum number of associated entities and min represents the minimum number of associated entities.
a. (max, min) b. (min, max)
c. [min ... max] d. {min|max}

ANSWER: b

26. When the specific cardinalities are not included on the diagram in Crow’s Foot notation, cardinality is implied
by the use of _____.
a. symbols b. attributes
c. images d. tables

ANSWER: a

27. Knowing the minimum and maximum number of occurrences is very helpful at the application software
level.
a. object b. attribute
c. data d. entity

ANSWER: d

28. An entity is said to be -dependent if it can exist in the database only when it is associated with another
related entity occurrence.
a. existence b. relationship
c. business d. data

ANSWER: a

29. If an entity can exist apart from all of its related entities, then it is existence-independent, and it is referred to as
a(n) entity.
a. weak b. alone
c. unary d. strong

ANSWER: d

30. A entity has a primary key that is partially or totally derived from the parent entity in the relationship.
a. strong b. weak
c. business d. child

ANSWER: b

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
31. The existence of a(n) entity indicates that its minimum cardinality is zero.
a. ternary b. optional
c. strong d. weak

ANSWER: b

32. The Crow’s foot symbol with two vertical parallel lines indicates cardinality.
a. (0,N) b. (1,N)
c. (1,1) d. (0,1)

ANSWER: c

33. A relationship exists when an association is maintained within a single entity.

a. unary b. ternary
c. strong d. weak

ANSWER: a

34. A relationship exists when three entities are associated.

a. unary b. strong
c. ternary d. weak

ANSWER: c

35. If an employee within an EMPLOYEE entity has a relationship with itself, that relationship is known as a

relationship.
a. self b. self-referring
c. looping d. recursive

ANSWER: d

36. To simplify the conceptual design, most higher-order relationships are decomposed into appropriate equivalent
relationships whenever possible.
a. unary b. binary
c. strong d. weak

ANSWER: b

37. The entity relationship model uses the associative entity to represent a(n) relationship between two or
more entities.
a. M:N b. 1:M
c. N:1 d. M:1

ANSWER: a

38. When using the Crow’s Foot notation, the associative entity is indicated by relationship lines between the
parents and the associative entity.
a. dotted b. double

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
c. triple d. solid

ANSWER: d
39. The first step in building an entity-relationship diagram (ERD) is .
a. developing the initial ERD
b. creating a detailed narrative of the organization’s description of operations
c. identifying the attributes and primary keys that adequately describe the entities
d. identifying the business rules based on the description of operations

ANSWER: b

40. are characteristics of entities.

ANSWER: Attributes

41. A(n) attribute is an attribute that must have a value.

ANSWER: required

42. are underlined in an ER diagram.

ANSWER: Identifiers

43. A person’s Social Security number would be an example of a(n) attribute.

ANSWER: single-valued

44. A(n) attribute need not be physically stored within the database.

ANSWER: derived

45. A relationship is difficult to establish if only one side of the relationship is known.

ANSWER: classification

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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
46. When indicating cardinality, the first value represents the number of associated entities.

ANSWER: minimum

47. The concept of relationship strength is based on how the of a related entity is defined.

ANSWER: primary key

48. A(n) relationship is also known as an identifying relationship.

ANSWER: strong

49. The Crow’s Foot notation depicts the strong relationship with a(n) line between the entities.

ANSWER: solid

50. The Chen notation identifies a weak entity by using a double-walled entity .

ANSWER: rectangle

51. Participation is if one entity occurrence does not require a corresponding entity occurrence in a
particular relationship.

ANSWER: optional

52. In Crow’s Foot notation, an optional relationship between entities is shown by drawing a(n) on the side
of the optional entity.

ANSWER: small circle (O)

53. Failure to understand the distinction between mandatory and optional in relationships might yield designs
in which awkward (and unnecessary) temporary rows (entity instances) must be created just to accommodate
the creation of required entities.

ANSWER: participation

54. A relationship indicates the number of entities or participants associated with a relationship.

ANSWER: degree

55. A(n) process is based on repetition of processes and procedures.

ANSWER: iterative

56. Identifying the attributes of entities helps in the better understanding of among entities.

ANSWER: relationships

57. not only helps database designers to stay on track during the design process, it also enables them to pick
up the design thread when the time comes to modify the design.

ANSWER: Documentation

58. What is a weak relationship? Provide an example.

ANSWER: A weak relationship, also known as a non-identifying relationship, exists if the primary key of the
related entity does not contain a primary key component of the parent entity. By default,
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Chapter 4: Entity Relationship (ER) Modeling
relationships are established by having the primary key of the parent entity appear as a foreign key
(FK) on the related entity (also known as the child entity). For example, suppose the 1:M
relationship between COURSE and CLASS is defined as:
COURSE (CRS_CODE, DEPT_CODE, CRS_DESCRIPTION, CRS_CREDIT)
CLASS (CLASS_CODE, CRS_CODE, CLASS_SECTION, CLASS_TIME, ROOM_CODE,
PROF_NUM)
In this case, a weak relationship exists between COURSE and CLASS because CRS_CODE (the
primary key of the parent entity) is only a foreign key in the CLASS entity. In this example, the
CLASS primary key did not inherit a primary key component from the COURSE entity.

59. What is a ternary relationship? Provide some business rules examples that specify the need for a ternary or
higher- order relationship.

ANSWER: A ternary relationship implies an association among three different entities. Although most
relationships are binary, the use of ternary and higher-order relationships does allow the designer
some latitude regarding the semantics of a problem. Some business rules examples that specify the
need for a ternary relationship are:
• A DOCTOR writes one or more PRESCRIPTIONs.
• A PATIENT may receive one or more PRESCRIPTIONs.
• A DRUG may appear in one or more PRESCRIPTIONs. (Assume that the business rule states
that each prescription contains only one drug. In short, if a doctor prescribes more than one drug,
a separate prescription must be written for each drug.)

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