Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) Practice Exam

Which data representation technique provides a visual representation of organizational data in business language?

1. Physical data model

2. Entity relationship diagram

3. Logical data model

4. Data flow diagram

The correct answer is: Logical data model

The logical data model is designed to represent data in a way that is understood by stakeholders without delving into the physical storage specifics of the database. This model focuses on the structure of the data itself—entities, attributes, and the relationships among them—while using terminology that is more aligned with business language. It offers a conceptual view that helps bridge the gap between how data is handled in a business context and how it is ultimately implemented in the underlying database systems. In contrast, a physical data model deals with how data is physically stored, including details such as file structures and indexing. It often contains technical jargon that may not be clear to those outside of the IT department or database design field. An entity relationship diagram primarily focuses on illustrating the relationships between different entities and may not convey the broader context of data usage or business processes as effectively as a logical data model. Data flow diagrams are used to visualize the flow of data within a system and between processes, emphasizing how data moves rather than the structure of the data itself. Therefore, while they provide valuable insights into system processes, they do not directly communicate the organizational data in business terms. Overall, the logical data model stands out as the option that aligns closest with the need for a representation of