Re: Identifying candidate keys and primary keys

David Cressey wrote:
>


> No wonder you are confused by your assignment.  It sounds like the
people
> who gave you the assignment did not describe the subject matter in
> sufficient detail for you to be able to determine the candidate keys. 
Were
> they relying on you to use general knowledge of how hospitals work to
> determine candidate keys?  Were they relying on you to do online
searches to
> find out which combinations of columns are unique?
> 
> Or  (shudder) did they even understand the implications of the
assignment
> they were giving you?

I would expect someone returning an assignment to do***ent any 
assumptions they make. The students shouldn't be marked on the depth of 
their knowledge of hospital administration systems.

The first commandment of data-analysis is "Know thy data." That's not 
possible in a situation where the analyst can't ask the business 
questions. The only option is to make the best of a less than ideal 
situation. Do***ent what assumptions have to be made. Do***ent what 
information is missing.

But also bear in mind that the same assignment is being done by a whole 
class. It may have been done by several cl***** in earlier years. Nobody 
expects a student to produce a perfect data model ready to be 
implemented in a hospital. Instead they will be *****sed on how well 
they do compared with other students in the class, and against previous 
year's students.

There's a risk of paralysis by analysis. A candidate could spend a year 
studying hospital administration and will get a perfect answer, but it 
will not be ready in time to be marked. Better a good answer delivered 
on time than a perfect answer never delivered.


-- 
bap@[EMAIL PROTECTED]