Data Services In Cambridge MA At NW Database Services

Information about Data Cleaning

A Brief History Of Data Cleaning

Data cleaning has long been considered an integral component of data analysis, yet its term was first coined in 1988 by John M. Chambers – a statistician and computer scientist.

Chambers was working at Bell Laboratories at the time on S language software packages used for statistical software development, when he introduced data cleaning as an important concept in his paper “Comprehensive Data Analysis System” by defining it as “the process of correcting or removing invalid values from a dataset.” Although the term became more widely utilized among data scientists and analysts later on, Chambers’ definition of what data cleaning is still relevant today.

Chambers stressed the significance of validating data before analysis began, noting that failure to address errors before analysis began could result in misleading or incorrect results. His concept remains relevant today: data cleaning remains essential in ensuring accuracy during analyses and creating trustworthy datasets; regardless of its application in an industry or model development process.

What is Data Cleansing?

Data cleansing (also referred to as data wrangling or cleaning) is an integral step in data analytics, serving to validate and prepare data prior to beginning analysis. While not a difficult process itself, data cleaning remains an integral component of it – typically consisting of identifying and correcting potentially incorrect or problematic records.

Rogue data refers to incomplete, incorrect, irrelevant, corrupted or incorrectly formatted data. One aspect of deduplication that’s often mentioned as part of this process is deduping. Deduping allows identical data points to be combined or eliminated – an essential part of deduping.

Why does deduping matter?

Data cleaning can be simplified: if it doesn’t exist, it won’t affect your analysis. As data analysis is often used for making business decisions, accurate results are crucial. While it might seem simpler to delete incomplete or inaccurate data points quickly and simply, doing so often leads to less reliable insights and increases reliability of insights gained from data analysis. Data cleansing aims at keeping as many points in as many analyses possible while increasing reliability of insights.

Data cleaning is of equal or greater significance than data analysis, serving a vital function in data governance and business housekeeping. Given the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of big data sources, keeping databases updated regularly is of vital importance for effective decision making and housekeeping purposes.

Why Is Data Cleansing Important?

Data analysis can often be summarized with the phrase, “garbage out, garbage in”. This maxim has become so well known among data analysts that its acronym, GIGO has come to symbolize it. What this phrase entails is simple – poor data quality will result in any analysis using it being unsuccessful regardless of any positive outcomes of data analytics processes.

Northwest Database Services has 34+ years experience with all types of data services, including mail presorts, NCOA, and data deduplication. If your database systems are not returning poor data, it is definitely time for you to consult with a data services specialist. We have experience with large and small data sets. Often, data requires extensive manipulation to remove corrupt data and restore the database to proper functionality. Call us at (360)841-8168 for a consultation and get the process of data cleaning started as soon as possible.

NW Database Services
404 Insel Rd
Woodland WA 98674
(360)841-8168

Cambridge is located in Middlesex County (Massachusetts), United States. The city is part of the Boston metropolitan region. Its 2020 U.S. Census population was 118,403, making the city the fourth-most populous in the state after Springfield, Worcester, Boston. It is one the two county seats de jure of Middlesex County. However, the county’s executive government was abolished back in 1997. It is located directly north of Boston across the Charles River. It was named after the University of Cambridge in England. This university was once an important center of Puritan Theology, which was embraced by the town’s founders.

History

The area now known as Cambridge was home to Native Americans for thousands of years before European colonization. The area was inhabited at the time European exploration and contact. It was home to Pawtucket or Naumkeag to the north, and Massachusett south. Other groups, such as the Totant, were also present. However, these stories are not documented in European literatures.

Climate

According to the Koppen Geiger classification, Cambridge has Dfa (hot-summer humid continental climate) that includes hot summers and cool winters. This can be found in the interior of New England. It has no dry season, and it receives a lot of rain. Cambridge is part of Group D (independent of the isotherm) with an average January temperature of 26.6 degrees F (-3 degrees Celsius). There are four seasons.

Demographics

The city was home to 105,162 people and 44,032 families. It also had 17,420 families as of 2010. The density of the population was 16,354.9 people per square mile (6.314.7/km2). At an average density 7,354.7 units per square mile (2.839.7/km2), there were 47,291 housing units. The city’s racial makeup was 66.60% white, 11.70% Black, African American, 0.20% Native American and 15.10% Asian (3.7% Chinese. 1.4% Asian Indian, 1.0% Japanese).

Transportation

There are several major roads that lead to Cambridge: Route 2, Route 16 and the McGrath Highway (Route 28). Although the Massachusetts Turnpike doesn’t pass through Cambridge, it does provide access to Allston via an exit. Additional access is also provided by Interstate 93 and U.S. Route 1 at the eastern end Cambridge, near Leverett Circle. Route 2A runs through the city, mainly along Massachusetts Avenue. The Charles River forms Cambridge’s southern border. It is connected to Boston by 11 bridges, including the Longfellow Bridge or the Harvard Bridge. Eight of these bridges are open for motorized road traffic.

Top Businesses

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Cambridge’s economy was dominated by manufacturing. Today however, it is dominated by educational institutions. Harvard and MIT employ approximately 20,000 people. Cambridge is a hub of technological innovation. It was home to the technology companies Analog Devices (now part Raytheon), Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN Technologies), General Radio (later GenRad), Lotus Development Corporation, Polaroid and Symbolics, and Thinking Machines.

Cambridge MA Map