Reflect on the textbook readings. Use examples to compare and contrast unstructured and structured data. Which type is more prevalent in a typical business environment?
In order to compare and contrast structred and unstructured data, a person must first understand
the difference between them. Structured data is the information that is found in rows and columns that arr usually within files and records that is easily processed and organized by data mining tools. For instance we can think of how a file cabinet is setup to where every thing is correctly labled and easily indentiable with ease. Unstructred data is information that is in raw format with no set data model or organizational manners, which can not produce any information. Unstructred data is usally text heavy to where it contains data such as numbers, dates, and facts. A good example of unstructured data is emails, as they are indexed by sender, recpipent, time, date, and the subject of the email. However the main body of the email is actually unstructured.
Structured data is the most prevalent in business environments, as information can easily be searched, however unstructured data still has a spot in in businesses too. For example web forms have structred data which iis able to hold unstructured data inside them. For instance when users are asked for feedback of a product that they recently purchased there is often multiple choicwe questions to be answered which happens to be strucred, and at the end of the process theres a comment box to where the consumer can input additional information. The additional information that is inputted is unstructured.