<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
examining	O
the	O
data	O
available	O
from	O
an	O
existing	O
information	O
source	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
database	O
or	O
a	O
file	B-Operating_System
)	O
and	O
collecting	O
statistics	B-General_Concept
or	O
informative	O
summaries	O
about	O
that	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
purpose	O
of	O
these	O
statistics	B-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
to	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Have	O
an	O
enterprise	O
view	O
of	O
all	O
data	O
,	O
for	O
uses	O
such	O
as	O
master	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
,	O
where	O
key	O
data	O
is	O
needed	O
,	O
or	O
data	B-General_Concept
governance	I-General_Concept
for	O
improving	O
data	O
quality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
refers	O
to	O
the	O
analysis	O
of	O
information	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
a	O
data	O
warehouse	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
clarify	O
the	O
structure	O
,	O
content	O
,	O
relationships	O
,	O
and	O
derivation	O
rules	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
utilizes	O
methods	O
of	O
descriptive	B-General_Concept
statistics	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
minimum	O
,	O
maximum	O
,	O
mean	O
,	O
mode	O
,	O
percentile	O
,	O
standard	O
deviation	O
,	O
frequency	O
,	O
variation	O
,	O
aggregates	O
such	O
as	O
count	O
and	O
sum	O
,	O
and	O
additional	O
metadata	O
information	O
obtained	O
during	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
data	O
type	O
,	O
length	O
,	O
discrete	O
values	O
,	O
uniqueness	O
,	O
occurrence	O
of	O
null	O
values	O
,	O
typical	O
string	O
patterns	O
,	O
and	O
abstract	O
type	O
recognition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Normally	O
,	O
purpose-built	O
tools	O
are	O
used	O
for	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
to	O
ease	O
the	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Kimball	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
is	O
performed	O
several	O
times	O
and	O
with	O
varying	O
intensity	O
throughout	O
the	O
data	O
warehouse	O
developing	O
process	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
conducted	O
in	O
the	O
data	O
warehouse	O
development	O
process	O
after	O
data	O
has	O
been	O
loaded	O
into	O
staging	O
,	O
the	O
data	O
marts	O
,	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
benefits	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
are	O
to	O
improve	O
data	O
quality	O
,	O
shorten	O
the	O
implementation	O
cycle	O
of	O
major	O
projects	O
,	O
and	O
improve	O
users	O
 '	O
understanding	O
of	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Discovering	O
business	O
knowledge	O
embedded	O
in	O
data	O
itself	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
significant	O
benefits	O
derived	O
from	O
data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
profiling	I-General_Concept
is	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
most	O
effective	O
technologies	O
for	O
improving	O
data	O
accuracy	O
in	O
corporate	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
