Which statement about metadata is true?

• A. Metadata describes data and governs data quality and usage.
• B. Metadata is only used for marketing data.
• C. Metadata is the actual data values stored in files.
• D. Metadata is a programming language.

Answer: (A)

Metadata is data about data, describing what the data represents and how it should be used. It provides context that helps people understand, trust, and properly manage data assets. For example, it can include definitions of each field in a dataset, the data type and allowed values, units of measurement, who created the data, when it was created, and how it has been transformed over time. It also covers governance aspects like data quality rules, access permissions, privacy considerations, and provenance. Because of this, metadata enables accurate interpretation, proper usage, and compliance across an organization.

This isn’t the actual data values stored in files—those are the data themselves. It isn’t limited to marketing data, since metadata applies to any data asset. And it isn’t a programming language; metadata is information about data, not code.