Fig. 1.5.4 Normalized data.The result of normalization is that data can be placed into flat file records. Once data are
placed into normalized, flat file records, the data can be easily calculated and compared
and all the other aspects of normalization.
Normalization is an optimal state for data to be analyzed because in a normalized state,
the data are at a very low point of granularity. Because the data are at a very low point of
granularity, it can be categorized and calculated in many different ways. From an
analogical standpoint, data in a normalized state are similar to grains of silicon. Raw
grains of silicon can be recombined and remanufactured into many different forms—
glass, computer chips, body implants, and so forth. By the same token, normalized data
can be reworked into many different forms of analysis.
(As a side note, normalizing data does not necessarily mean that data will be placed into a
relational structure. Most of the time, the normalized data are placed into a relational
structure. But it is entirely possible to place normalized data in a structure other than a
relational structure if that makes sense.)
Whatever structuring of data is used, the result is that normalized data are placed into
records of data that may or may not have a relational foundation, as seen in Fig. 1.5.5.
Chapter 1.5: Corporate Data Analysis