Which techniques should be applied during data preparation to ensure accurate and reliable data for analysis?

Normalization is a crucial technique applied during data preparation to ensure that the data is structured in such a way that it maintains its integrity and accuracy for analysis. It involves adjusting the values in a dataset to a common scale without distorting differences in the ranges of values. This is particularly important when dealing with various metrics and attributes that may be measured in different units or have different scales. By applying normalization, analysts can ensure that comparisons between different datasets or elements are valid, enabling them to derive meaningful insights from the data.

Normalization is often used to mitigate the influence of outliers or skewed distributions, allowing for a more accurate analysis, especially in predictive modeling or machine learning scenarios. It's instrumental in helping algorithms function effectively, as many analytical models assume that the data is on a similar scale.

While deduplication, error handling, and aggregation are also significant aspects of data preparation, normalization specifically addresses the need for uniformity in variable scales, which plays a direct role in facilitating accurate analysis and comparison. Therefore, the emphasis on normalization as a critical technique highlights its importance in producing reliable analytical outcomes.