Record Linkage - Stochastic and Machine Learning Approaches

In a large database of records, synonymous records pose a great problem. Two records referring to the same entity are considered to be synonymous. In the absence of a common identifier, such as a primary key or foreign key, joining such records based on the entities is a tough task. Let's illustrate this with a quick example. Consider the following two records:

Sno	First name	Middle name	Last name	Address	City	State	Zip
1	John	NULL	NULL	312 Delray Ave	Deer Field	FL	33433
2	John	NULL	Sanders	312 Delray Beach Ave	Deer Field	FL	33433

 

Both the records refer to the same entity, one Mr. John. Record linkage refers to an umbrella of algorithms that are designed to solve the exact same problem. Record linkage plays a key role today in various applications such as CRM, Loyalty to name a few. They are...