Composition of datasetsDAMA: 35

Naturalness

The degree to which the composition of datasets is aligned with the real-world objects that they represent.

Created: 10/30/2025
Business Impact
Positive Impacts
  • •Data models that intuitively reflect real-world business entities and processes.
  • •Easier understanding and use of data by business users and analysts.
  • •More stable and maintainable data structures that adapt well to business changes.
  • •Reduced complexity in data modeling and database design.
Negative Impacts (if poor quality)
  • •Complex and counter-intuitive data models that are difficult for users to understand and query.
  • •Increased risk of misinterpreting data due to unnatural or convoluted structures.
  • •Higher maintenance costs and difficulties in evolving data models as business needs change.
  • •Overly denormalized or poorly structured data leading to redundancy and update anomalies.
Technical Description

Grade

Examples
Good quality vs poor quality indicators
Good Quality Examples

Logistics: Having separate, well-defined datasets (or tables) for Vessels, Containers, Moves, Customers, and Invoices, each reflecting distinct real-world entities and their relationships.

E-commerce: Separate datasets for 'Products', 'Customers', 'Orders', and 'Order_Items' naturally model the business domain.

University: Datasets are structured around 'Students', 'Courses', 'Faculty', and 'Enrollments', aligning with how the university actually operates and thinks about its data.

Poor Quality Examples

Logistics: Storing individual container move details, vessel visit information, and customer billing data all within the same highly complex, denormalized table.

E-commerce: A single 'Product' table contains attributes for physical products, digital downloads, and service subscriptions, making the schema overly complicated and hard to manage.

University: A 'Student_Course_Enrollment_Grade_Faculty' dataset combines too many distinct real-world concepts, leading to data redundancy and update anomalies.

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Quick Stats
Dependent KPIs0
Improvement Standards0
CategoryComposition of datasets
API Access
GET /api/dq-dimensions/b9a19093-40d0-4c90-9d2e-a969dcc5143b