Dirty data, also known as rogue data, are inaccurate, incomplete or inconsistent
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
, especially in a computer system or
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
.
Dirty data can contain such mistakes as spelling or punctuation errors, incorrect data associated with a field, incomplete or outdated data, or even data that has been duplicated in the database. They can be cleaned through a process known as
data cleansing
Data cleansing or data cleaning is the process of identifying and correcting (or removing) corrupt, inaccurate, or irrelevant records from a dataset, table, or database. It involves detecting incomplete, incorrect, or inaccurate parts of the dat ...
.
Dirty Data (Social Science)
In sociology, dirty data refer to secretive data the discovery of which is discrediting to those who kept the data secret. Following the definition of Gary T. Marx, Professor Emeritus of MIT, dirty data are one among four types of data:
* Nonsecretive and nondiscrediting data:
**Routinely available information.
* Secretive and nondiscrediting data:
**Strategic and fraternal secrets, privacy.
* Nonsecretive and discrediting data:
** sanction immunity,
** normative dissensus,
** selective dissensus,
** making good on a threat for credibility,
** discovered dirty data.
* Secretive and discrediting data: Hidden and dirty data.
See also
*
Data janitor
*
Signal noise
References
Data quality
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