What is the difference between deduplication and normalization in address data?

What is the difference between deduplication and normalization in address data?

• A. Deduplication removes duplicates and verifies identity.
• B. Normalization only corrects typos.
• C. Deduplication and normalization refer to the same step.
• D. Deduplication identifies duplicates; normalization standardizes address formats for matching and consistency.

Answer: (D)

The difference being tested is that deduplication identifies duplicates and normalization standardizes address formats for matching and consistency. Deduplication looks at records to decide which ones refer to the same real-world address, so you can merge or clean them. Normalization converts addresses into a consistent form—standardizing abbreviations, spells, spacing, and overall formatting—so comparisons across records are meaningful. By normalizing first (or as part of the process), you enable more reliable deduplication because the data being compared follows a uniform standard. In practice, deduplication uses these standardized forms to flag potential duplicates, while normalization is about creating that common representation. The other options miss key parts: deduplication doesn’t inherently verify identity, normalization isn’t limited to fixing typos, and they aren’t the same step.