Final answer:
Using the DISTINCT option in a SELECT query filters out duplicate records and returns only unique records, with sorting being applied afterwards if an ORDER BY clause is present.
Step-by-step explanation:
In regards to sorting, if a DISTINCT option is used in the SELECT clause of a query, it means that the query will return only unique records for the columns listed. Duplicate entries in the result set are filtered out, so you are left with only one instance of each unique record. The sorting of these results would then be applied after the distinct filtering has been done, so if there is an ORDER BY clause present in the query, it will sort the unique results.