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Different Viewpoint on Data Sourcing
Dan wrote in with a different take on why people may be looking for multiple sources of information to build a specific data set: "This sounds like an outgrowth of concept that I first heard about in the 1980’s – “Data Source of Record”. It’s the original source of data that’s unfiltered and unadjusted.
As a Data Warehouse jock (architect, developer, or whatever you want to call me), obtaining good, clean, accurate, historical data is one of the biggest challenges in Data Warehousing. Unfortunately, it’s normal for upstream data producers to manufacture data that NOT good, clean, or accurate. Add in the Time dimension, and all bets are off – historical data typically ranges from non-existent to garbage.
Now to your point…
Even if the data is good to start with, many times there are interested parties who don’t want that data exposed. Often company managers of all levels, marketing departments, financial departments, etc do NOT want “real” data exposed. They could look bad or make the company look bad.
Consider the point of view of a “bad” department manager. Part of his/her success is convincing his/her management team that he/she is doing a great job. This person does NOT want anyone to know or even suspect that the employees despise them, the team’s efficiency is shot, and that the team is not meeting their goals. To a database jock, good data is WONDERFUL; to others, it’s a threat.
My apologies for being cynical, but I believe that bad data is the norm every where. Cross referencing multiple sources is provides some way of getting close to “truth”.
Remember the concept of “MAD” – Mutually Assured Destruction? Even given the concept of MAD, the nuclear arms race is/was based on the suspicion that the other guy might have a means of smacking you down. People are suspicious that “the other guy” might use real data against you. So they try preemptive action to hide truth.
I guess it’s just human nature."
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