DBS201: Introduction to

Normalization
Agenda
 TopDown vs Bottom Up
 What is Normalization?
 Why Normalization?
 Normalization Steps
Top Down vs Bottom Up
 Top Down
 Usually provided just a narrative or very high level
data requirements
 Need to discover entities, attributes, relationships

 Result is tables
Top Down vs Bottom Up
 Bottom Up
 Provided with views of data
 Views can be screen shots or reports (printouts)

 Views contain fields (data)

 Need to groups fields together – find fields that are

in common
 Result is tables
Agenda
 TopDown vs Bottom Up
 What is Normalization?
 Why Normalization?
 Normalization Steps
What is normalization?
 Normalization
 Process for evaluating and correcting table
structures to minimize data redundancies
 helps eliminate data anomalies
 Can be used in conjunction with ER modeling
to produce a good database design
What is normalization?
 Works through a series of stages called
normal forms:
 Normal form (1NF)
 Second normal form (2NF)
 Third normal form (3NF)
What is normalization?
 2NF is better than 1NF
 3NF is better than 2NF
 For most business database design purposes,
3NF is highest we need to go in the
normalization process
 Highest level of normalization is not always
most desirable
Agenda
 TopDown vs Bottom Up
 What is Normalization?
 Why Normalization?
 Normalization Steps
Why normalization?

 Example: company that manages building

projects
 Charges its clients by billing hours spent on each
contract
 Hourly billing rate is dependent on employee’s
position
 Periodically, a report is generated that contains
information displayed as in Table 5.1
A Sample Report Layout
A Table in the Report Format
Why normalization?

 Structure of data set in Figure 5.1 does not

handle data very well
 The table structure appears to work; report is
generated with ease
 Unfortunately, the report may yield different
results, depending on what data anomaly has
occurred
Agenda
 TopDown vs Bottom Up
 What is Normalization?
 Why Normalization?
 Normalization Steps
Conversion to First Normal Form

 Relational table must not contain repeating

groups
 Repeating group
 Derives its name from the fact that a group of
multiple (related) entries can exist for any single
key attribute occurrence
 Normalizing the table structure will reduce
these data redundancies
 Normalization is three-step procedure
Step 1: Eliminate the Repeating
Groups
 Present data in a tabular format, where each
cell has a single value and there are no
repeating groups
 Eliminate repeating groups by eliminating
nulls, making sure that each repeating group
attribute contains an appropriate data value
First Normal Form
Step 2: Identify the Primary Key
 Primary key must uniquely identify attribute
values (a row)

 Primary key is PROJ_NUM, EMP_NUM

(because the combination of those two
uniquely identifies each row of the table)
Step 3: Identify all Dependencies
 Dependencies can be depicted with the help
of a diagram
 Dependency diagram:
 Depicts all dependencies found within a given
table structure
 Helpful in getting bird’s-eye view of all
relationships among a table’s attributes
 Use makes it much less likely that an important
dependency will be overlooked
Dependency Diagram
1NF
PROJ_NUM

PROJ_NAME

EMP_NUM

EMP_NAME

JOB_CLASS

CHG_HOUR

HOURS
First Normal Form
 Tabular format in which:
 All key attributes are defined
 There are no repeating groups in the table
 All attributes are dependent on primary key

 All
relational tables satisfy 1NF requirements
 Some tables contain partial dependencies
 Dependencies based on only part of the primary
key
 Still subject to data redundancies

EMPLOYEE_PROJECT(PROJ_NUM(PK), EMP_NUM(PK),
PROJ_NAME, EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS, CHG_HOUR, HOURS)
Conversion to Second Normal
Form
 Relationaldatabase design can be improved
by converting the database into second normal
form (2NF)
 Two steps
Step 1: Identify All Key Components
 Determine which attributes are dependent on
which other attributes
 Using the dependency diagram, document the
partial dependencies: in other words take each
part of the primary key and document which
attributes are dependent on each part of the
primary key
Dependency Diagram
1NF 2NF
PROJ_NUM

PROJ_NAME

EMP_NUM

EMP_NAME

JOB_CLASS

CHG_HOUR

HOURS
Step 2: Identify the Dependent
Attributes
 Write each key component on separate line,
and then write the original (composite) key on
the last line
 Each component will become the key in a new
table

PROJECT (PROJ_NUM (PK), PROJ_NAME)

EMPLOYEE (EMP_NUM(PK), EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS,

CHG_HOUR)

EMPLOYEE_PROJECT(PROJ_NUM(PK), EMP_NUM(PK), HOURS)

Second Normal Form
 Table is in second normal form (2NF) if:
 It is in 1NF and
 It includes no partial dependencies:
 No attribute is dependent on only a portion of the

primary key
Conversion to Third Normal Form
 Dataanomalies created are easily eliminated
by completing these steps
Step 1: Identify Each New
Determinant
 For every transitive dependency, write its
determinant as a PK for a new table
 Determinant
 Any attribute whose value determines other values within
a row
 Using the dependency diagram, document the
transitive dependencies: in other words
identify the attributes dependent on each
determinant identified above and identify the
dependency
Dependency Diagram
1NF 2NF 3 NF

PROJ_NUM

PROJ_NAME

EMP_NUM

EMP_NAME

JOB_CLASS

CHG_HOUR

HOURS
JOB_CLASS is a determinant because
it can determine other values within the
row. In this case, it’s the CHG_HOUR
Step 2: Name the table
 Name the table to reflect its contents and
function

PROJECT (PROJ_NUM (PK), PROJ_NAME)

EMPLOYEE (EMP_NUM(PK), EMP_NAME)

JOB (JOB_CLASS(PK), CHG_HOUR)

EMPLOYEE_PROJECT(PROJ_NUM(PK), EMP_NUM(PK), HOURS)

Third Normal Form
A table is in third normal form (3NF) if:
 It is in 2NF and
 It contains no transitive dependencies
Improving the Design
 Table structures are cleaned up to eliminate
the troublesome initial partial and transitive
dependencies
 Normalization cannot, by itself, be relied on to
make good designs
 It is valuable because its use helps eliminate
data redundancies
Improving the Design (continued)
 The following changes should be made:
 PK assignment
 Naming conventions
 Attribute atomicity
 Adding attributes
 Adding relationships (will define the FKs)
 Refining PKs
 Eliminate derived attributes
Business Rules
 Business Rules drive the relationships
 Look at the data in the table and
understand/interpret what the relationship is
between the data
Business Rules
A job class can have more than 1 employee in
it; results in a 1:M relationships between JOB
and EMPLOYEE
 Add the FKs into the appropriate tables
Step 2: Name the table
 Name the table to reflect its contents and
function

PROJECT (PROJ_NUM (PK), PROJ_NAME) New foreign key

EMPLOYEE (EMP_NUM(PK), EMP_NAME, JOB_CLASS(FK))

JOB (JOB_CLASS(PK), CHG_HOUR)

EMPLOYEE_PROJECT(PROJ_NUM(PK), EMP_NUM(PK), HOURS)

Business rule not
necessary between
EMPLOYEE and PROJECT.
Why?
First Normal Form
Normalization and Database
Design
 Normalization should be part of design
process
 Make sure that proposed entities meet
required normal form before table structures
are created
 ER diagram
 Provides the big picture, or macro view, of an
organization’s data requirements and operations
 Created through an iterative process
 Identifying relevant entities, their attributes and their
relationship
 Use results to identify additional entities and attributes
ERD

EMPLOYEE

PK EMP _NUM
JOB _CLASS
PK JOB _CLASS EMP _LNAME
Has assigned
EMP _FNAME
CHG _HOURS EMP _INITIAL
FK 1 JOB _CLASS

works

EMPLOYEE _PROJECT

PROJECT PK,FK 1 EMP _NUM

PK,FK 2 PROJ _NUM
PK PROJ _NUM Has working
HOURS
PROJ _NAME
Normalization and Database
Design (continued)
 Normalization procedures
 Focus on the characteristics of specific entities
 A micro view of the entities within the ER diagram
 Difficult
to separate normalization process
from ER modeling process
 Two techniques should be used concurrently
Summary
 Normalization is a table design technique
aimed at minimizing data redundancies
 First three normal forms (1NF, 2NF, and 3NF)
are most commonly encountered
 Normalization is an important part—but only a
part—of the design process
 Continue the iterative ER process until all
entities and their attributes are defined and all
equivalent tables are in 3NF
Normalization Exercise
STU_NUM STU_LNAME STU_MAJOR DEPT_CODE DEPT_NAME DEPT_PHONE

211343Stephanos Accounting ACCT Accounting 4356

200128Smth Accounting ACCT Accounting 4356

199876Jones Marketing MKTG Marketing 4378

199876Ortiz Marketing MKTG Marketing 4378

223456McKulski Statistics MATH Mathematics 3420

Normalize the above table.

1NF – eliminate repeating groups, identify a PK for the table structure
2NF – find partial dependencies
3NF - find transitive dependencies
Write final table structures, including all relationships. Make all attributes atomic.
Normalization Exercise
Vehicle Model Year Acme Tire Tire Size KM This
Num Number Manfctr Vehicle

11Ford 1997 1327Goodyear 15R7 43000

1328Goodyear 15R7 43000
1329Goodyear 15R7 25000
1330Goodyear 15R7 24000
15Chevrolet 1999 2013BF Goodrich 15R7 18000
2014BF Goodrich 15R7 18000
2013BF Goodrich 15R7 29000
2014BF Goodrich 15R7 29000

Normalize the above table.

1NF – eliminate repeating groups, identify a PK for the table structure
2NF – find partial dependencies
3NF - find transitive dependencies
Write final table structures, including all relationships. Make all attributes atomic.