Scribd
Upload
20 views4 pages

Step by Step Data Wrangling

Data wrangling, or data munging, is the process of transforming raw data into a clean and structured format for effective use in decision-making and analytics. The step-by-step process includes discovering, cleaning, structuring, enriching, validating, storing, and documenting data, each with specific tasks and tools. Common tools used throughout the process include Python, R, SQL, and various data visualization platforms.

Uploaded by

VIGNESH BABU T R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
20 views4 pages

Step by Step Data Wrangling

Data wrangling, or data munging, is the process of transforming raw data into a clean and structured format for effective use in decision-making and analytics. The step-by-step process includes discovering, cleaning, structuring, enriching, validating, storing, and documenting data, each with specific tasks and tools. Common tools used throughout the process include Python, R, SQL, and various data visualization platforms.

Uploaded by

VIGNESH BABU T R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

1.

Step-by-Step Data Wrangling Process

Definition of Data Wrangling

Data wrangling, also known as data munging, is the process of transforming raw and
unstructured data into a clean, structured, and usable format. The purpose of data
wrangling is to prepare data so that it can be effectively used for decision-making, machine
learning models, and business intelligence applications.

Step-by-Step Process of Data Wrangling

1. Discovering Data

What is it?

Data discovery is the first step in data wrangling, where analysts identify relevant datasets
from various sources and explore their structure, quality, and completeness. This step helps
in understanding patterns, inconsistencies, and missing values in the data.

Steps:

• Collect data from various sources like databases, spreadsheets, APIs, or web
scraping.

• Identify missing values, duplicate entries, or incorrect data formats.

• Perform basic statistical summaries to check patterns and anomalies.

Common Tools:

• Python: Pandas (df.info(), df.describe())

• R: summary(), str()

• SQL: SELECT COUNT(*), GROUP BY, AVG(), MIN(), MAX()

• Excel: Pivot tables

2. Cleaning Data

What is it?

Data cleaning involves removing errors, inconsistencies, and missing values from datasets to
improve accuracy and reliability. This step ensures that the data is free from irrelevant
information.

Steps:

• Remove duplicates to avoid repeated data.

• Handle missing values by filling them (mean/median) or removing incomplete


records.
• Fix incorrect formats (e.g., changing dates to YYYY-MM-DD).

• Standardize text cases (convert all names to uppercase/lowercase for consistency).

• Remove special characters or unwanted symbols.

Common Tools:

• Python: Pandas (dropna(), fillna(), replace())

• R: na.omit(), mutate()

• SQL: DELETE, UPDATE, TRIM(), REPLACE()

3. Structuring Data

What is it?
Structuring involves organizing raw data into a well-defined format that is easy to analyze. It
ensures that data is properly categorized and formatted.

Steps:

• Convert unstructured data (text, JSON, XML) into structured formats (tables,
relational databases).

• Normalize data to avoid redundancy.

• Reshape data into a required format (wide vs. long format).

Common Tools:

• Python: Pandas

• R: (tidyverse package)

• SQL: JOIN, UNION, GROUP BY

• Google Sheets/Excel: Text-to-columns, CONCATENATE function

4. Enriching Data

What is it?

Data enrichment involves adding relevant external or additional data to improve the
dataset’s value and completeness. It enhances insights by merging new sources.

Steps:

• Feature engineering: Create new useful columns from existing ones (e.g., extracting
the year from a date column).
• Adding external data: Merge datasets to include more information (e.g., adding
weather data to sales records).

• Categorizing values: Convert numeric ranges into categories (e.g., age groups: Child,
Adult, Senior).

Common Tools:

• Python: Scikit-learn (PolynomialFeatures, OneHotEncoder)

• R: mutate() function in dplyr

• SQL: ALTER TABLE, ADD COLUMN, CASE WHEN

• Google Data Studio: Merging data sources

5. Validating Data

What is it?

Validation ensures data accuracy, consistency, and integrity by applying rules and constraints
to detect errors.

Steps:

• Validate data types (numeric, categorical).

• Check for outliers and anomalies.

• Validate foreign keys and relationships in databases.

• Ensure consistency across datasets.

Common Tools:

• R: validate package

• SQL: CHECK CONSTRAINT, FOREIGN KEY

• Tableau Prep: Data validation workflows

6. Storing Data

What is it?

Storing involves saving the cleaned and processed data in an organized and secure format
for further analysis.

Steps:
• Save data in commonly used formats like CSV, JSON, Excel.

• Store in databases (SQL, NoSQL) for efficient querying.

• Use cloud storage (AWS S3, Google Drive) for easy access.

• Index data for faster retrieval.

Common Tools:

• Python: pandas.to_csv(), to_sql()

• R: write.csv(), DBI for database interaction

• SQL: INSERT INTO, CREATE INDEX

• Google BigQuery: Cloud storage and querying

7. Documenting or Publishing Data

What is it?

Documentation ensures that the entire data wrangling process is recorded for future
reference, reproducibility, and collaboration.

Steps:

• Write data dictionaries (descriptions of all columns).

• Record transformations and cleaning processes.

• Create reports or dashboards summarizing key insights.

• Publish cleaned datasets on platforms like Kaggle or Google Data Studio.

Common Tools:

• Python: Jupyter Notebooks, pandas_profiling for automated reports

• R: R Markdown, knitr package

• SQL: Metadata tables (INFORMATION_SCHEMA)

• Power BI & Tableau: Interactive data dashboards

You might also like