Final answer:
In a database, choosing specific columns through a SELECT statement is known as a QUERY, which is part of efficient database management and allows retrieval of specific information.
Step-by-step explanation:
Choosing specific columns from a database through a SELECT statement is known as c) QUERY. When writing a SQL statement, you can specify the columns you want to retrieve from a table. This is an important part of database management, as it allows you to retrieve only the information that is of interest to you, helping to make your database interactions more efficient. For example, if you have a table with columns 'name', 'email', and 'age', and you only want to retrieve the 'name' and 'email', your SELECT statement would look like:
SELECT name, email FROM users;This SELECT statement 'queries' the database for specific data, thus it's known as a query operation.