How can an author distribute increases in summary records among detail records?

The correct choice highlights a method for distributing increases in summary records among detail records by spreading the increase across the bucket. This approach allows for a balanced and proportional distribution of the increase based on the detail records that make up the summary.

When working with summary and detail records, it is important to understand that changes to summary data must reflect the underlying detail data for accuracy in reporting and analysis. Spreading the increase ensures that each detail record receives a fair portion of the increase according to its significance or weight in the overall summary.

For instance, if you have a summary record representing total sales for a product line and you learn that sales should be increased by a certain amount, you can calculate how much of that increase should be allocated to each product within that line, ensuring that the overall integrity and coherence of data is maintained.

The other methods mentioned would not adequately distribute the increases. Deleting the summary record would eliminate the overview needed to encapsulate and analyze the data. Adjusting total values directly in the summary record without allocation to detail records would lead to inaccuracies, as the detail records would not reflect the changes in a meaningful way. Merging records into a single record could cause a loss of granularity and detail, which could negatively impact any analysis that