Data Summarization

Data Summarization summarizes data which included both primitive and derived data. Since the data in the data warehouse is of very high volume, there needs to be a mechanism in order to get only the relevant and meaningful information in a less messy format. Data summarization provides the capacity to give data consumers generalize view of disparate bulks of data.

·         Challenging work Data summarization in very large multi-dimensional datasets as in the case of data warehouses is a very challenging work. This typically requires very intensive investigation to be done by IT experts, database administrators and programmers so that overall trends and important exceptions can be identified and dealt with technically. A computer, or several computer working together, can perform very exhaustive searches using highly sophisticated and complex algorithms to do the data summarization.

·         Time Consuming Data summarization is quite a common thing but may require a very powerful and time consuming approach in order to analyze ultra large datasets. For instance, when somebody want to do an investigation of census data so that he can understand the relationship between the salary and educational level, this can involve querying high volume databases and intensive data aggregation.

·         Easy to present Graphically Data summarization can also be done with a simple spreadsheet application such as Microsoft Excel. For example random sample can be collected such as three persons given three containers with different kinds of beverages, say, Coke, Pepsi, and Marinda. The beverage each person prefers is marked X.

With manual presentation of data, the result could be presented as P, P, C, P, P, P, P, P, P, C, P, P, M, and so. But that would be too confusing. With the use of computer programs, this could be easily summarized. And since most programs have visual interface, one can even get a graphical view like a chart or a bar graph, line graph and other graphical presentation formats.

·         Use Tools There are many tools available in the market to make data summarization a lot easier by making it in visual environment. These tools may help a data consumer produce a data summary of the data one at a time and they can also allow the end user to explore the dataset manually. While the end user only clicks and drags, the computer is performing the exhaustive search at the back.

·         Helps in spotting Trends and Patterns Data summarization makes it easy for business makers to spot trends and patterns in the industry where the business operates as well as trends and patterns in the internal operations of the business organization. This way, the decision makers can get accurate pictures of the strong and weak points in the operation.