Starting the Process - Database Design for Mere Mortals - page 83

tion and a closed question, as well as when to use each kind of question. We ended this
discussion by reviewing a set of interview guidelines, and you learned that you should use
them to help you ensure that the interviews are productive and successful.
The mission statement wasournexttopicofdiscussion.Weexpandedupontheinformation
in Chapter 4 , “ Conceptual Overview ,” by looking at how the mission statement states the
specificpurposeofthedatabase.Younowknowthattheprocessinvolvesconductinginter-
viewsandlearningabouttheorganization,thenformulatingthemissionstatementfromthe
information you gathered during these steps. We defined the characteristics of a good mis-
sion statement, and you learned that a well-defined mission statement establishes a clear
focus for your design efforts.
Next,wediscussed mission objectives, andweexpandeduponthe Chapter4 overviewonce
again. As you now know, mission objectives represent the tasks performed against the data
in the database, and you define them after the mission statement. We then explored how to
define a mission objective. Here, you learned that you conduct interviews with users and
management and that the information you gather from these interviews provides the basis
for each mission objective. We also discussed the characteristics of a well-written mission
objective, and you learned that a clearly defined mission objective will help you define
various structures within the database.
Review Questions
1 . Why are interviews important?
2 . What problem can arise when you conduct an interview with a large number of
people?
3 . What is the primary reason for conducting separate interviews with users and man-
agement?
4 . True or False: You'll commonly use closed questions in your interviews.
5 . What kind of responses should you try to evoke from the interview participants?
6 . What is the single most important guideline for every interview you conduct?
7 . What is a mission statement?
8 . State two characteristics of a well-written mission statement.
9 . True or False: You need not learn about the organization in order to compose a mis-
sion statement.
10 . When is your mission statement complete?
11 . What is a mission objective?
12 . State two characteristics of a well-written mission objective.