Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Chapter 2: Database Concepts and Applications in HRIS
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. One of the benefits of a relational database system is that
a. end users who generally had limited programming experience can still utilize the
query functionality
b. organizations can easily implement them
c. they are easy to maintain
d. they are a strategic HRM resource
2. The employee’s name is an example of ______.
a. an entity
b. an attribute
c. an object
d. a primary key
3. Which of the following is NOT a shortcoming of early file-oriented database
structures?
a. data redundancy
b. poor data control
c. inadequate data manipulation capabilities
d. inability to resemble manual recordkeeping
4. When a(n) ______ from one table is stored as an attribute of another table, that
attribute is called a(n) ______.
a. primary key; foreign key
b. object; entity
c. foreign key; primary key
d. entity; attribution
5. HR metrics are
a. various measures of organizational performance
b. derived from organizational outcomes
c. used to improve organizational efficiency and effectiveness
d. all of these
6. ______ is a broad category of business applications and technologies for creating
data warehouses and for analyzing and providing access to these specialized data to
help enterprise users make better business decisions.
a. Strategic planning
b. Business intelligence
c. Enterprise solution
d. Data intelligence
7. Queries are important because
a. they are a way to store data
b. they provide direction for strategic HR
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
c. they allow you to present questions to the DBMS in a language it understands
d. they allow you to manipulate information
8. The database design process
a. begins with determining what the users want
b. is a task that only upper management should manage
c. begins with a budget estimate
d. requires outside consultant services
9. Information is the ______ of data while knowledge is information that has been given
______.
a. accumulation; structure
b. meaning; structure
c. interpretation; meaning
d. understanding; definitions
10. Functional units, management levels, and geographically dispersed locations may
all have the need to ______.
a. share data
b. limit attributes in the database
c. reduce database needs
d. limit query functionality
11. The advent of the Internet and a standardized communication protocol have
contributed to
a. easier database programming
b. data sharing across geographically dispersed locations
c. the maximization of query functionality
d. the elimination of a centralized database
12. MS Access would be appropriate for an organization that
a. had a small database and limited knowledge of database programming
b. had a small database and extensive knowledge of database programming
c. had a large database and limited knowledge of database programming
d. had a large database and extensive knowledge of database programming
13. Data processing systems that performed record-keeping functions that mimicked
existing manual procedures were called ______.
a. file-oriented data structures
b. small database structures
c. data warehouses
d. electronic data storage
14. Patterns in large data sets are identified through ______.
a. the creation of tables
b. data gathering
c. data mining
d. electronic data storage
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
15. Business intelligence (BI) applications include ______.
a. the activities of decision support systems
b. query and reporting
c. forecasting
d. all of these
16. A(n) ______ allows you to ask a question based on one or more tables in a
database.
a. action query
b. question query
c. cross-tab query
d. select query
17. A shortcoming of hierarchical and network database systems was that
a. only very knowledgeable technical staff members could interact with the database
effectively
b. relationships between records were explicitly maintained
c. it replaced file-oriented structures
d. it was electronically stored data
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
True/False
1. An attribute is a characteristic of the entity in a relational database.
2. Data mining involves visually analyzing large data sets to identify recurring
relationships.
3. A data warehouse is a special type of database that is optimized for reporting and
analysis and is the raw material for management’s decision support system.
4. Attributes represent a single data element or characteristic of the data table.
5. A foreign key represents the primary key from another table that is stored as an
attribute in another table.
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
6. Relational database data is stored in tables where each table represents one “entity”
in the real world, and the information associated with that “entity” is stored in that table.
Tables are related to each other through a common attribute or key.
7. Tables are used to store information about entities. Multiple tables are created for
each entity.
8. One of the benefits of a relational database system is that end users who generally
had limited programming experience can still utilize the query functionality.
9. The employee’s name is an example of an object.
10. MS Access would be appropriate for an organization that had a small database and
limited knowledge of database programming.
11. The advent of the Internet and a standardized communication protocol have
contributed to easier database programming.
12. The database design process begins with determining what the users want.
Essay
1. What are some examples of how an organization might use the data-sharing ability of
a relational database system?
2. Provide some examples of actions that might be performed as a result of an action
query.
Instructor Resource
Kavanagh and Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
3. What is meant by a cross-tab query?
4. Compare the typical users of an action query with those of a cross-tab query.
5. What are the implications for databases and data sharing in today’s global
environment?
6. What were the benefits of relational database systems versus traditional file-oriented
data structures?
7. What is meant by business intelligence?
8. What are decision support systems, and what role do they play?
9. What is meant by a hierarchical database?
10. What critical role does N-tier architecture provide to large, multinational companies?