Concept Exercise #3

1. Dean wishes to use Access instead of Excel to store his Piano data, but couldn't the data be
stored in an Excel spreadsheet? Why or why not?
The data can be stored in an Excel spreadsheet. Dean is only tracking data in
one theme so a spreadsheet can be used.

2. Is there any justification for Dean's decision to use Access to store the piano database?
Dean’s decision to use Access depended on Dean’s needs. He thought it would be useful
to be able to query his data in a variety of ways. It would be better than the sorting
method that Excel spreadsheets uses.
3. Examine the columns in Figure 1.
a. Name three characteristics -- or 3 data items -- of the pianos that are not
represented in this table.
Several items such as data acquired, whether the piano needs repair or if
repair has been made, and price paid to acquire the piano are missing
and could be added.

b. If you were a consultant advising Dean, what criteria should you and he use
in deciding whether to include the additional data that you identified?
I would discuss about the pros and cons about including the additional
data and whether it is worth the effort and cost.

c. Is this database a model of an inventory of pianos, or a model of Dean's

model of an inventory of pianos? Explain the difference.
This is a model of Dean’s model of an inventory of pianos. The difference is that
this Dean’s model matches what he needs at the moment. A model of an
inventory of piano is too broad and might not fit what he wants.

4. Suppose, in addition to the data about pianos, Dean wants to store data about the
manufacturer such as its address, years of operation, general comment about the
manufacturer, etc.
a. Design a Manufacturer table.

Manufacturer Years of Operation Address General Comment

Short Text Number Short Text Short Text

b. Alter the design of the Piano Table (Figure 2) to represent the relationship
between Piano and Manufacturer.
Brand Text
Serial Number Number (primary key)
Color Text
Type Text
Building Text
Location Text
Sound Board Text
Venier Text
Strings Number
Felts Text
Key Type Text
Percent Missing Text
Pedals Text
Sound Text
Remarks Text
Year Made Number
Manufacturer ID Number (foreign key)

5. Using the data in Figure 4, what conclusions can you make about the effect of location on
piano sound quality. Justify and caveat your statements accordingly.
The shed is the best place to store the pianos. There are 25 pianos that have a sound
quality of 3+. The north tent would be the next best place since it has about 11 pianos
that are 3 or higher in sound quality. The shop and the south tent are the worst place to
store the pianos. Most of the pianos there have have a score of 2 or below in sound
quality.