Which statement best describes the effect of sorting data by a field in descending order?

• A. Sorting has no effect on the order of rows.
• B. Sorting changes the data types of the values.
• C. Sorting rearranges the data by moving rows; it does not change values.
• D. Sorting by a field in descending order places the largest values first.

Answer: (D)

Sorting data by a field reorders the rows to reflect the values in that field. When you sort in descending order, the rows are arranged so that the largest values come first, followed by smaller ones. This reordering does not change any of the actual data values or their data types; it simply changes the sequence of rows. For example, if the field contains 10, 5, 8, and 3, sorting descending will produce 10, 8, 5, 3. So the effect of a descending sort is to place the largest values at the top. The other statements claim no effect, or changes to data types, or are too general about sorting without specifying the descending behavior, making them incorrect for describing this scenario.