University of Central Florida (UCF) QMB3602 Business Research for Decision Making Practice Exam 2

In research, data records are best defined as individual entries from a survey. Each record corresponds to a specific participant’s response and contains the information provided by that participant. This means that every record encompasses the responses to various survey items, making it a distinct and fundamental unit of data in quantitative research.

When breaking down the other options, the sum of all responses by all participants refers to an aggregate view of the data rather than individual entries, which can lead to confusion regarding the specificity of a single record. A collection of data fields typically refers to the format or structure that organizes data within a record, rather than defining what a record itself is. Finally, metadata provides information about the data, such as the data type or definitions of fields, but does not define the records containing the actual responses of participants.

Thus, recognizing that individual entries from a survey represent discrete records helps clarify their role in the larger context of data analysis and research methodology.