---
id: "prereq-database-normalization"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["00:12:30", "00:15:06"]
tags: ["data-engineering"]
related: ["framework-data-migration-pipeline", "concept-production-trust"]
reason: "Required to understand the specific failure modes (e.g., failing to normalize payment methods) GPT-5.5 exhibited during the data migration test."
sources: ["s26-gpt55-claude-gemini"]
sourceVaultSlug: "s26-gpt55-claude-gemini"
originDay: 26
---
# Database Normalization and Hygiene

## Prerequisite
The analysis of the **Splash Brothers** test (and [[framework-data-migration-pipeline]] more broadly) assumes familiarity with database concepts.

## What You Need to Know
- **Schema normalization** — flattening heterogeneous source schemas into a canonical model.
- **Enum mapping** — translating string-valued fields into a controlled vocabulary (e.g., payment_method = 'credit_card' vs 'cc' vs 'CARD').
- **Canonical records** — designating one row as the source of truth across deduped entries.
- **Source provenance** — tracking which input file produced which canonical fact.

## Why It Matters Here
Without this, a listener can't grasp the specific **failure modes** [[entity-gpt-5-5|GPT-5.5]] exhibited (e.g., failing to normalize payment methods) or why [[concept-production-trust]] insists on systemic validation around the model output.