hi, im currently studying a database module at university and as part of our coursework we have to normalize this to 3NF so i am not looking for the answers to this by any means. i have a couple of questions about my 1NF:

PROBLEM:
Retail(RID, Rlocation(StaffID, staffname, StaffPHNumber), (ProductID, ProductName, amount))

Functional Dependances:
RID > Rlocation
StaffID > StaffName
StaffID > StaffPHNumber
ProductID > ProductName

1NF - No repeating Groups

Retail Location(RID, Rlocation)
Staff(StaffID, StaffName, StaffPHNumber, RID)
Product(ProductID, ProductName, amount, RID)

there are now no repeating groups and all functional dependances are present, the RID is displayed as a foreign key in staff and product to allow the tables to be joined.

however my question is have i done too much with this only being 1NF?
and am i allowed to introduce foreign keys in 1NF?, if not when would i and how would they be represented here

2NF - No Partical key dependances
Retail Location(RID, Rlocation)
Staff(StaffID, StaffName, StaffPHNumber, RID)
Product(ProductID, ProductName, amount, RID)

There are no P.K.D's and this is already in 2NF

3NF - no T.K.D
Retail Location(RID, Rlocation)
Staff(StaffID, StaffName, RID)
StaffPHNo(StaffID,StaffPHNumber)
Product(ProductID, ProductName, amount, RID)

There was a transitive dependancy from StaffName > StaffPHNumber and this is moved to a new table staffphno.

As far as i can see this is now normalized to 3NF, but one thing im learning from uni is: if u think its right, its probably wrong, and if you think its wrong then its deffinetly wrong

what is staffPHNumber, if its a unique value and always known at the time creating the row and doens't change over time then that has the feel of a candidate primary key. if hgowever its a phoine number then you need to think about what is relevant about phone numbers
howmany phone numbers do you need per person, are thise numbers shared, and so on.

staffPHNumber is the phone number and it would have to be a many:many relationship as one person can have many phone numbers but one house phone can belong to many people.
however for normalisation i didnt realise this would be relevent?

although i asume its because ive made a seperate table for phone numbers? but i need that seperate table or else staffname > phonenumbers is a TKD and isnt in 3NF
im probably way off but thats the way i see it?

EDIT: Just noticed someone has just posted about this same question on this forum, yet hes got a completly different answer from me which really doesnt fill me with confidence on my answer, especially seen as how i seemed to have already had it in 2NF.

what do you think the chances are that your teacher/professor will have a look around the various database forums (by searching on table and column names in the assignment) to see who is trying to get homework help?

what makes you think that they are right and you are wrong
what makes you think there is only one right answer
the fact is that often in the systems world there are many wrong answers, several right answers, and some which are correct based on the assumptions and limitations inherent in the requirement

the point of your assignment is for you to document the process you've gone through, including any blind alleys, because what you are supposed to be doing is proving that you have understood the principles of normalisation. often the narrative is just as important as the end product.

i think the chances of that are pretty damn high, however as you see i am not asking for any answers im a looking for guidence due to the limited amount of time lectures have to give you assistance in university
i am sure they would be absoloutly fine with what i have asked on this forum.

totally true and i feel i do understand the principles behind normalization, however putting into practice what i have learnt seems to be a whole different ball game, and i feel that there is no point learning something if you cannot implement it properly