Chapter-1 Data Structures

Chapter # 1 DSR
Case Studies
Question 3:
A financial analyst at a brokerage firm is working on a report. Part of her data includes the daily closing
price of a company's share, which was Rs. 245.75 on Monday and Rs. 248.50 on Tuesday. She is also
analyzing the total number of shares an investor holds, which is 5,000.
(a) Identify the quantitative data subtypes for the share price and the number of shares.
(b) Explain the fundamental difference between these two subtypes of quantitative data.
Question 4:
Bata Pakistan Ltd. receives a weekly shipment manifest from its supplier in XML format. This file contains
product codes, descriptions, and quantities, but the structure can vary slightly each week if new product
attributes are added. The company also stores all its finalized sales data in a rigid, fixed-format SQL
database.
a) Identify the category of data represented by the weekly shipment manifest.
b) State TWO characteristics of this data category that are evident from the scenario.
Question 5:
SoftTech Solutions is developing a new project management software. To understand user needs, its
development team conducted one-on-one interviews with 50 potential users. Later, to understand the
competitive landscape, the marketing team downloaded a market research report on the software
industry from a well-known consultancy firm.
(a) Classify the data sources used by the development team and the marketing team as Primary or
Secondary.
(b) State ONE advantage and ONE disadvantage of the data source used by the marketing team.
Question 6:
A hospital uses an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that stores patient information in structured
tables (e.g., Patient-ID, Name, Age, Blood Pressure Reading). The same system also stores scanned
copies of doctors' handwritten notes and X-ray images for each patient.
(a) Identify the types of data (based on structure) mentioned in the scenario.
(b) Why is the analysis of the doctors' notes and X-rays more challenging than analyzing the blood
pressure readings? Explain briefly.
Question 8:
During an audit of a manufacturing company, an auditor is reviewing various documents. She examines
the general ledger (which is highly organized in a table format) and also reads through a series of internal
email communications between the production and sales departments regarding inventory discrepancies.
(a) Categorize the general ledger and the email communications based on data structure.
(b) State one key challenge the auditor might face while analyzing the email communications that she
would not face with the general ledger.
Question 9:
A bank is implementing a new AI-driven system. The system is designed to analyze two types of data: (1)
the structured transaction history of customers from its core banking database, and (2) the recorded
audio of customer calls to the service center to detect frustration in their voices.
(a) Identify the data types (based on structure) being used for each analysis.

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(b) Which of the two data types requires tools like Artificial Intelligence (AI) for meaningful analysis?
Explain why.
Question 12:
A car insurance company offers a discount to customers who install a telematics device in their vehicle.
This device collects two streams of data: (i) the exact GPS location coordinates (latitude and longitude
with many decimal places) every 30 seconds, and (ii) the total number of times the vehicle was driven
between 12 AM and 5 AM in a month.
(a) Classify data streams (i) and (ii) as Discrete or Continuous.
(b) Provide another example of Continuous Data relevant to a general insurance company.
Question 15:
A new health and fitness app "FitLife" has become very popular in Pakistan. It collects users' precise
workout routes via GPS, their heart rate, and also their personal details like name and CNIC number.
(a) Based on the chapter, name ONE Pakistani legal framework that is relevant to the data collection
activities of FitLife.
(b) According to ethical considerations, what are TWO key responsibilities FitLife has regarding the
user data it collects?

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Answer 3:
a)
• Share Price (Rs. 245.75, Rs. 248.50): Continuous Data.
• Number of Shares (5,000): Discrete Data.
b) The fundamental difference is that Discrete Data consists of whole, countable numbers that
cannot be broken down into fractions (e.g., you cannot have 5,000.5 shares). Continuous Data,
however, can take any value within a range and can be measured with increasing precision,
including decimals and fractions (e.g., a share price can be Rs. 245.75, Rs. 245.755, etc.).
Answer 4:
a) The weekly shipment manifest in XML format represents Semi-structured Data.
b) Two characteristics are:
1. Uses Tags/Markers for Organization: The XML format uses tags (e.g., <productCode>,
<description>) to organize the information.
2. Flexible Schema/Lacks Rigid Structure: The scenario mentions that the structure "can
vary slightly each week," indicating that it does not have a rigid, predefined schema like
structured data, making it more adaptable.
Answer 5:
(a)
• Development Team (Interviews): Primary Data Source.
• Marketing Team (Market Research Report): Secondary Data Source.
(b) For the Secondary Data (market research report):
• Advantage: It is cost-effective and saves time, as the data was already collected by the
consultancy firm, so SoftTech does not have to invest resources in conducting its own
extensive market research.
• Disadvantage: The data may not be fully specific or relevant to SoftTech's unique
product or target audience, as it was collected for a general purpose. It could also be
somewhat outdated.

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Answer 6:
(a)
• Patient information in structured tables: Structured Data.
• Scanned copies of handwritten notes and X-ray images: Unstructured Data.
(b) Analyzing doctors' notes and X-rays is more challenging because they are unstructured. They
lack a predefined format, making it difficult to process using traditional data analysis tools. To
extract meaningful insights from this data, advanced techniques like Natural Language Processing
(NLP) for the text and Computer Vision for the images are required.
Answer 8:
(a)
• General Ledger: Structured Data.
• Email Communications: Unstructured Data.
(b) A key challenge with the email communications is the difficulty in indexing and searching the
content effectively. Unlike the general ledger, where she can run a simple query to find a
transaction, the emails lack a fixed schema, making it time-consuming to manually sift through and
extract specific relevant information about the inventory discrepancies.
Answer 9:
(a)
• Structured transaction history: Structured Data.
• Recorded audio of customer calls: Unstructured Data.
b) Unstructured Data (the recorded audio) requires AI tools for meaningful analysis.
Explanation: Structured data can be analyzed using conventional tools and SQL queries.
However, unstructured data like audio has no predefined format. To detect nuanced patterns like
emotional sentiment (frustration) from voice, advanced AI techniques such as Natural Language
Processing (NLP) and audio sentiment analysis are necessary, as traditional methods are
ineffective.

Answer 12:
(a)
(i) GPS coordinates: Continuous Data (can take any value within a range, measurable to
many decimal places).
(ii) Number of night drives: Discrete Data (a countable whole number).
(b) Another example of Continuous Data for an insurance company could be the exact value of a
property insured (e.g., Rs. 45,750,000.00) or the client's age calculated precisely in years and
months (e.g., 45.75 years).
Answer 15:
(a) One relevant Pakistani legal framework is the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016,
which criminalizes unauthorized access to personal data.
(b) Two key responsibilities of FitLife are:
1. Security: FitLife must implement robust security measures to protect the sensitive user data
(like CNIC and health metrics) from hackers, breaches, and misuse.
2. Transparency: FitLife must clearly explain to its users what data it is collecting (GPS, heart
rate, CNIC), why it is being collected, and how it will be used, stored, and potentially shared.

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Multiple Choice Questions

2) Your CFO wants same-day IFRS packs auto-generated. Which data characteristic most enables
this?
A. Human-readable tags
B. Rigid schema with defined fields
C. Multimedia richness
D. Lack of fixed schema

6) Sales wants “top 500 customers with emails & last 12-month spend” to push an offer today. Which
data form is essential?
A. Unstructured
B. Semi-structured
C. Structured rows/columns
D. Paper memos
8) Payroll wants fast drill-downs on tax deductions by region. Most suitable store?
A. Data lake with raw images
B. Relational database tables (RDBMS)
C. Social media archive
D. Free-text docs
9) A buy-side analyst mines tweets and YouTube transcripts for sentiment. The dominant data type is:
A. Structured
B. Semi-structured
C. Unstructured
D. Time-series structured
12) Returns root-cause study requires order tables + customer review text + product photos. Minimal
set spans:
A. Structured only
B. Structured + unstructured
C. Unstructured only
13) You need governed metrics for regulatory ratios and also raw media for investigations. Best
placement?
A. Put all in warehouse
B. Put all in object store
C. Warehouse & lake-house
D. Local laptops
14) A bank trains, probability of default (PD) loss in the event of default (LGD) models using transaction
histories and income statements. Why this structured data advantageous here?
A. Cheaper storage only

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B. Clear lineage and fields for algorithms
C. More colorful content
D. No security controls needed
15) Suppliers send e-invoices as XML; your ERP must parse line items reliably. The XML role is to
provide:
A. Video compression
B. Rigid relational schema
C. Tagged, semi-structured fields
D. Unconstrained blobs (Binary Large Object)
16) You need broad, immediate industry information before designing a primary survey. Which data
category first?
A. Primary
B. Secondary
C. Derived
D. Synthetic
17) Operations wants on-time shipment %, cycle time, and daily backlog. Which storage supports is
best here.
A. Audio archive
B. RDBMS/warehouse tables
C. PNG images
D. Micro Soft World
18) Which source is most likely to embed sensitive personal info inconsistently across fields?
A. SQL table with defined columns
B. XML feed with fixed schema
C. Unstructured PDF attachments
D. CSV with enforced types
19) A startup ingests diverse IoT payloads with frequent firmware changes. Why choose JSON?
A. Least scalable
B. Requires strict schema
C. Flexible keys, scalable ingestion
D. Only human readable; not machine-parsable
22) A finance team wants to mine figures from scanned receipts. Pre-classification of this source?
A. Structured
B. Semi-structured
C. Unstructured
D. Derived
24) Marketing exports CSVs from Meta Ads with varying optional columns across campaigns. This is
best seen as:
A. Structured
B. Semi-structured

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C. Unstructured
D. Non-data
25) Which risk emerges if a company stores tax data mainly in free-text PDFs?
A. Over-normalization
B. Easy automated filing
C. Search/indexing difficulty and data deletion risk
D. Too much schema rigidity
27) Why can structured enterprise data migrations be complex?
A. No relationships to manage
B. Multi-table relationships and schema changes
C. Lack of any metadata
D. Images are too big

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28) A security team investigates intrusion using Apache logs in line-based text with key=value fields.
Pre-classification?
A. Structured
B. Semi-structured
C. Unstructured
D. Graph data
29) For monthly board packs (BS, P&L, CF), which is the canonical data type?
A. Structured ledger and sub-ledger tables
B. Social media feeds
C. Video statements
D. Freehand notes
31) Hospital integrates EHR feeds in XML with lab PDFs. Immediate classification?
A. Both structured
B. XML semi-structured & PDFs unstructured
C. XML unstructured & PDFs structured
D. Both unstructured
34) Before building a new product line, you always use analyst whitepapers and government stats.
Main benefit of these sources?
A. Perfect accuracy
B. Low cost and speed, broad scope
C. Direct control over method
D. Always up-to-date
36) Finance exports monthly trial balance CSVs; sometimes columns are missing when empty. This is:
A. Structured with rigid schema
B. Semi-structured with optional fields
C. Unstructured
D. No data
42) Which is the most unstructured source to evaluate agent quality?
A. CSV files
B. XML interaction summaries
C. MP3 call recordings
D. JSON transcripts
44) Which approach fits cleaning duplicate supplier names?
A. Analyze mp4s
B. SQL
C. Only manual read of PDFs
D. CSV
47) You must validate a hypothesis from a secondary report about churn drivers. What is your next
best step for high accuracy and more current data?

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A. Ignore and publish what aver you have
B. Run a focused primary survey/experiment
C. Download more blogs from YouTube
D. Collect Govt. data

ANSWERS
1. C 2. B 3. A 4. B 5. B
6. C 7. B 8. B 9. C 10. C
11. C 12. B 13. C 14. B 15. C
16. B 17. B 18. C 19. C 20. B
21. C 22. C 23. B 24. B 25. C
26. B 27. B 28. B 29. A 30. B
31. B 32. B 33. B 34. B 35. C
36. B 37. B 38. C 39. B 40. B
41. C 42. C 43. D 44. B 45. B
46. B 47. B 48. B 49. B 50 B

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