Defined
A database is a collection of information that allows you to identify relationships between the information. Once the relationship is identified, you can draw conclusions about that relationship. A database organizes, stores, manages, and retrieves information through the use of tables.
For example: A research firm collects the following information from children in preschools located in Los Angeles:
| Gender | Hair Color | Fave Lunch | Fave M&M color | Potty Trained |
| Female | Brown | PBJ | Red | Yes |
| Female | Blonde | Hotdogs | Blue | Yes |
| Female | Blonde | Hotdogs | Blue | Yes |
| Male | Brown | PBJ | Red | No |
| Male | Red | Mac & Cheese | Green | Yes |
| Male | Brown | PBJ | Red | No |
| Male | Brown | PBJ | Red | No |
Examine the table, can you see that there are some relationships formed by the number of identical responses. Can you identify the relationships?
There appears to be the following relationships:
- Blonde females and hotdogs
- Brown haired males and red M&M’s
- Females and potty trained
- Blonde and brown-haired children’s likes and dislikes are the same.
Through these relationships, conclusions can be drawn:
- Blonde haired preschool females prefer hotdogs for lunch.
- Preschool boys who have brown hair prefer to eat only red M&M’s.
- Boys do not get potty trained until after they are out of preschool.
- Kids with red hair are highly independent.
Now I said these conclusions can be reached, I didn’t say they were true. Read the rest of this entry »
