What is the difference between data transformation and data modeling?

< 1 min read

Data transformation is cleaning and preparing raw data before it’s usable.
I do tasks like removing nulls, splitting columns, changing data types, and standardizing formats in Power Query.
For example, I convert order date text into date format and merge first/last name columns.
Data modeling is structuring the prepared data into relationships for analysis.
Here I create fact and dimension tables and define relationships in Power BI.
Example: Orders → fact table, Customer & Product → dimension tables.
Transformation focuses on data quality, modeling focuses on analytics structure.
Transformation happens first, modeling happens after clean data is ready.
Together they ensure correct metrics and faster dashboards.

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