Metadata & Master Data Management Flashcards

Which of the following best describes 'data lineage' in the context of metadata management?

Answer: The documented path data travels from origin through transformations to consumption

Data lineage tracks the full lifecycle of data—its source, all transformations applied, and where it ends up—enabling impact analysis and auditability.

In MDM governance, a data domain steward is MOST responsible for:

Answer: Defining and enforcing data standards within an assigned data domain

A domain data steward owns the quality standards, definitions, and governance rules for their specific master data domain (e.g., customer, product).

When a company acquires another firm, the FIRST MDM priority should typically be:

Answer: Mapping and reconciling entity keys across both company's master data domains

Key reconciliation and entity mapping ensure that shared customers, products, and vendors are correctly unified without duplication or data loss.

Which metadata element is MOST important for data stewards managing sensitive personal data under privacy regulations?

Answer: Data sensitivity / classification tag

Sensitivity classification tags enable automated access controls, retention enforcement, and regulatory reporting for personal or confidential data.

An MDM hub uses 'deterministic matching.' This means records are linked when:

Answer: Exact matches are found on defined key fields like SSN or account number

Deterministic matching links records only when specific designated key fields match exactly, providing high precision with lower recall.

What is a metadata repository?

Answer: A centralized store that captures, manages, and provides access to metadata across systems

A metadata repository is a purpose-built system for storing and serving metadata including technical definitions, business glossary terms, and lineage information.

Which MDM KPI best measures the effectiveness of duplicate record elimination over time?

Answer: Duplicate rate: percentage of duplicate entities remaining in the hub

The duplicate rate directly measures MDM matching quality by tracking what fraction of entity records remain unresolved duplicates.