Data preparation is the method of collecting, cleaning, processing and consolidating the data for use in analysis. It enriches the data, transforms it and improves the accuracy of the outcome.
Data preparation is useful in many different situations – such as when you are trying to analyze the log files of a website to find out which IP address the spammers are coming from, which demographic most sales on your website come from, or which geographic region is your website most popular in?
Data cleansing is an important part of data preparation. Data is considered valid (correct data type or pattern), complete, consistent, uniform and accurate (data has been verified). Given the variety of sources that data can come from, data preparation can be involved and complex. Thankfully there are many tools and technologies that can assist in this process.