neco 2023 data_processing | Essay

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Question 1 View Details
A secondary school intends to use a computer‑based system to record the scores of its students in the end‑of‑term Mathematics examination. The school expects to have 240 score entries (each entry consists of a student’s name and the obtained mark out of 100).
Question Parts
(a)
State the four main stages of the data processing cycle that the school should follow, and briefly describe the purpose of each stage.
(b)
Suggest an appropriate method for collecting the scores and justify why it is suitable for this situation.
(c)
Explain how the raw scores can be transformed into a frequency distribution with class intervals of 10 marks (0‑9, 10‑19, …, 90‑100) and how the mean, median and mode of the scores can be obtained from this distribution.
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Question 2 View Details
The table below shows the number of units of a product sold by a small business during eight consecutive weeks. | Week | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |------|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Units sold | 45 | 52 | 38 | 60 | 55 | 47 | 62 | 58 | Using this data, answer the following questions.
Question Parts
(a)
Calculate the total units sold over the eight weeks and the average (mean) weekly sales.
(b)
Construct a grouped frequency distribution for the units sold using class intervals of 5 units (35‑39, 40‑44, 45‑49, 50‑54, 55‑59, 60‑64). List the frequency for each class.
(c)
Using the grouped data, estimate the mean weekly sales by multiplying each class midpoint by its frequency, summing the products and dividing by 8. Compare this estimated mean with the exact mean obtained in part (a) and comment on any difference.
(d)
Determine the median weekly sales from the raw data (ordered) and explain the steps used.
(e)
The business wishes to forecast the sales for week 9 using a simple moving average of the last three weeks (weeks 6, 7 and 8). Compute this forecast and discuss its reliability based on the pattern of the data.
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Question 3 View Details
A small business uses a computer system to manage its sales and inventory.
Question Parts
(a)
List the five stages of the data processing cycle and give a brief description of each stage.
(b)
The manager notices that the inventory report generated at the end of each day sometimes shows quantities that do not match the actual stock. Identify which stage(s) of the cycle are most likely responsible for this discrepancy and explain why.
(c)
Propose two practical improvements to the system that would reduce the occurrence of this discrepancy, linking each improvement to a specific stage of the cycle.
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Question 4 View Details
A secondary school maintains an electronic record of its students. Each student record contains: admission number (8 characters), name (30 characters), date of birth (10 characters), and three subject scores (each stored as an integer).
Question Parts
(a)
Classify the file that stores these student records as a text file or a binary file, giving a clear justification for your choice.
(b)
Compare sequential file organization and random (direct) file organization with respect to access speed, storage efficiency and suitability for the school’s needs.
(c)
The school wants to be able to retrieve any student’s record quickly by admission number and also generate a list of all students ordered by total score. Recommend a suitable file organization method (or combination) and explain how it would support both operations.
(d)
Estimate the minimum storage space required for the file if 1,200 students are enrolled, assuming 1 byte per character and 4 bytes per integer, and ignoring any file‑system overhead. Show your calculations.
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Question 5 View Details
A company maintains a relational database with the following three tables: Employees(EmpID, Name, DeptID, Salary) Departments(DeptID, DeptName, ManagerID) Projects(ProjID, ProjName, DeptID, Budget) Assume that EmpID and DeptID are primary keys of their respective tables and that each project is managed by the department indicated by DeptID. Answer the following questions:
Question Parts
(a)
Write a relational algebra expression that retrieves the names of all employees who work in a department that manages at least one project whose budget exceeds ₦500,000.
(b)
Translate the relational algebra expression from part (a) into an equivalent SQL query.
(c)
The Salary attribute in the Employees table is determined solely by the department to which an employee belongs (i.e., all employees in the same department receive the same salary). Identify any functional dependencies that violate the Third Normal Form (3NF) in the Employees table and propose a decomposition that brings the schema to 3NF.
(d)
Discuss two ACID properties and explain how they are ensured when a transaction transfers an employee from one department to another. The transaction must (i) change the employee’s DeptID in the Employees table and (ii) update the ManagerID of the old and new departments in the Departments table.
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Question 6 View Details
Consider the Boolean function F(A, B, C, D) = Σm(1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 11, 12, 14) + ΠM(0, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15) where Σm denotes the sum of minterms and ΠM denotes the product of maxterms. Answer the following:
Question Parts
(a)
Using a 4‑variable Karnaugh map, obtain the minimal Sum‑of‑Products (SOP) expression for F.
(b)
Derive the minimal Product‑of‑Sums (POS) expression for F.
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Question 7 View Details
A multinational corporation recently suffered a data breach where personal information of its customers was accessed by an unauthorised external hacker. The breach occurred because an employee clicked on a phishing email that appeared to be from the IT department, inadvertently providing the attacker with the employee's login credentials. Following the incident, the company decided to implement a new security policy that includes mandatory two‑factor authentication (2FA), regular cybersecurity awareness training for all staff, and the adoption of end‑to‑end encryption for all customer data stored on its servers. Answer the following questions:
Question Parts
(a)
Identify and explain two core ethical principles that were violated by the employee’s action and by the corporation’s initial security arrangements before the breach.
(b)
Discuss how the introduction of two‑factor authentication (2FA) addresses the ethical shortcomings identified in part (a).
(c)
Evaluate two potential drawbacks of relying solely on 2FA as a security measure and suggest complementary controls that could mitigate these drawbacks.
(d)
Briefly outline the key provisions of Nigeria’s Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) that are relevant to this incident and indicate how compliance with the NDPR could have altered the outcome.
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Question 8 View Details
In many Nigerian households, Internet of Things (IoT) devices such as smart thermostats, voice‑activated assistants, and security cameras are becoming increasingly common. While these devices offer convenience, they also raise concerns about data privacy, energy consumption, and digital inequality. Answer the following questions:
Question Parts
(a)
Analyse three ways in which smart thermostats can contribute to energy efficiency in a typical Nigerian home. For each way, explain the underlying ICT mechanism that enables the benefit.
(b)
Critically evaluate two privacy risks associated with voice‑activated assistants in the Nigerian context and propose a practical mitigation strategy for each risk.
(c)
Design a simple algorithm (in pseudocode) that a smart security camera could use to reduce data transmission costs while still alerting the homeowner to potential intrusions. The algorithm should make use of at least one decision‑making construct.
(d)
Discuss how widespread adoption of IoT devices could exacerbate digital inequality in Nigeria and suggest two policy measures that the government could implement to promote equitable access.
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