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A Daily Lexicon of Trustworthy Data

005·76

validation

/ˌvæl.ɪˈdeɪ.ʃən/ - n.

1 [colloq.] Confirming the data is the right shape, and inferring nothing about whether it is true.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. The act of checking data against defined rules at the point of entry, transformation, or load to prevent invalid records from propagating.

Evidence

Seen in the wild · 4

OpenTelemetry standardized the labels. The business meaning still lives outside the trace.Metric Theater
Everyone Agreed on the YAML. Nobody Agreed on the Owner.Definition Drift
The Build Checks the Shape. It Will Not Enforce the Promise.Owner Missing
New AI rules ask you to govern data you never classified. The bill comes due first.Business Sense Required

See also

accuracyAgreement with the source system, which everyone has quietly agreed to call reality.
data quality ruleA test that fires, raises a ticket, and waits to learn whether anyone meant it.
validityProof that a value followed the rules, and no proof at all that the rules described anything true.