Summary

Up until this chapter, we'd looked at data which was, for the most part, well-structured and easy to use. In this chapter, we considered what constitutes good structure and ways to deal with poor data structure. Good structure consists of data that has a meaningful level of detail and which has measures that match that level of detail. When measures are spread across multiple columns, we get data that is wide instead of tall.

You've got some experience now in applying various techniques to deal with data that has the wrong shape or has measures at the wrong level of detail. Tableau gives us the power and flexibility to deal with some of these structural issues, but it is often preferable to fix data structure at the source.

In the next chapter, we'll continue looking at some advanced and powerful techniques. These will be exciting and fun. Instead of looking at how to fix problems, we'll look at some tips and tricks to expand your creativity and take Tableau to the next level!