mysql> SELECT t1.ID,t1.THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK FROM questioncategory AS t1 LEFT JOIN questionnaire AS t2 ON ( t1.THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK = t2.ID) WHERE t1.THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK IS NOT NULL AND t2.ID IS NULL; +-------------+----------------------+ | ID | THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK | +-------------+----------------------+ | 360_EN-Text | NULL | +-------------+----------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK from questioncategory where ID='360_EN-Text'; +----------------------+ | THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK | +----------------------+ | NULL | +----------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec) mysql> select THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK from questioncategory where ID='360_EN-Text' AND THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK IS NULL; Empty set (0.00 sec) mysql> select LENGTH(THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK) from questioncategory where ID='360_EN-Text'; +------------------------------+ | LENGTH(THE_QUESTIONNAIRE_FK) | +------------------------------+ | 0 | +------------------------------+ 1 row in set (0.00 sec)