The Difference Between Structured and Unstructured Data in an Identity Resolution System

Learn about the differences between structured and unstructured data in identity resolution systems. Understand how each type of data can be handled and what software tools are available for each purpose.

The Difference Between Structured and Unstructured Data in an Identity Resolution System

When it comes to identity resolution systems, there is a clear distinction between structured and unstructured data. Structured data consists of clearly defined types of data with patterns that facilitate searching, while unstructured data (“everything else”) is made up of data that normally cannot be searched as easily, including formats such as audio, video and social media posts. The main difference between the two is the ease with which they can be analyzed. Structured data is easy to search and process, whether it's a human or programming algorithms, while unstructured data is much more difficult to search and analyze.

Once found, unstructured data must be carefully processed to understand its value and applicability. This process is a challenge, since unstructured data cannot fit into the fixed fields of relational databases until it is stacked and managed. For companies in the life sciences industry, both types of data are essential for their work, which requires analysis and visualization to make significant discoveries. It's worth noting that there's no real struggle between unstructured data and structured data.

Not only is it useful to understand the topic of data, but it's also crucial to figure out the relationships between that data. Unstructured data, also known as qualitative data, is the type of data that is stored in its original format and is not processed until the need arises. The main difference between structured and unstructured data is that structured data uses a defined format and unstructured data is saved in its native format. Structured data is quantitative and is used to show the monetary gains and losses of organizations, while unstructured data is qualitative and generally descriptive or based on interpretation.

JSON is also a semi-structured data model used by next-generation databases, such as MongoDB and Couchbase. Specialists who deal with unstructured data must have a good understanding of a data topic and how data is related. Structured data is not flexible and can only be used for its intended purposes, which is a significant disadvantage. By using natural language processing (NLP) for text analysis, chatbots help different companies to increase customer satisfaction with their services.

The different hotel and ticket booking services take advantage of the predefined data model, since all booking data, such as dates, prices, destinations, etc., can be easily stored in structured form. Structured data is created from a predefined format when the user has an idea of what columns of data will be included in the structured data.

Terri Benigno
Terri Benigno

Passionate pizza aficionado. Subtly charming travel fanatic. Proud coffee junkie. Certified twitter geek. Typical music fanatic. Freelance bacon specialist.

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