Structured vs.

Unstructured Data: Understanding Differences

big data
Data is versatile, comes in various forms, and can be organized in numerous ways.
One common categorization is structured or unstructured data with distinct
approaches to storage, processing, and analysis. Understanding these differences
aids in extracting valuable insights from any data set.
This article outlines the crucial differences between structured vs.
unstructured data.

Structured Data vs. Unstructured Data: Key Differences

Structured and unstructured data differ in many aspects. Both use different tools
and approaches to process and analyze information.
Below is a brief comparison table of structured data vs. unstructured data.

Structured Data Unstructured Data

Organized in a specific way with a fixed

Unorganized and with no fixed format.
format.

Stored in a relational database or Varied data formats which are not suitable for a re
spreadsheet. spreadsheet.

Easy to query and analyze. Hard to search and analyze.

Data types limited to numbers, text, and Different data formats, such as audio, video, image
dates. text.

Uses simpler methods to process data. Advanced data processing methods, such as mach

Uses traditional database tools. Requires specialized tools.

Stored in data warehouses. Stored in data lakes and utilizes object storage.

The focus is on data quantity. The focus is on data quality.

What Is Structured Data?

Structured data is any type of data organized in a specific way. The data has a fixed
format, such as tables with rows and columns.
Structured data resides in various formats that support a table-like structure. The
data is simple to search through, sort, and analyze with database tools or in
spreadsheets.
Structured Data Formats
Some common examples of structured data include:
 Relational databases are the most common way to store structured data.
Columns represent different fields, while each row is a data record.
 Spreadsheets store data in a table format. Columns represent individual
variables, whereas rows hold specific values.
 CSV (Comma Separated Values) files use plain-text format to store data in
fields and rows.
 XML (Extensible Markup Language) files are used for storing and
transporting data, while tags and attributes define data elements.
 JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) files are a lightweight storage and
data exchange format that uses a key-value pair structure.
Note: JSON and XML are a form of semi-structured data. The two formats do
not have a table-like structure but include tags, markers, and hierarchies to separate
elements.
Structured Data Examples
Structured data is easy to model into a table format. Examples of structured data
include:
 People information. A database with any information about people uses
structured data. For example, first and last name, ID number, date of birth,
email address, and phone number.
 Products data. A product list is easy to translate into structured data. Fields
include a product name, number in stock, price, and an image link.
 Geographic information. A list of places is simple to represent with
structured data. Different data types include city names, country names,
population, latitude, and longitude.
 Financial data. Any form of financial data has a structured form. Examples
include credit card information or stock market prices.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Structured Data
Structured data focuses on organizing data in a usable and understandable format.
The strict structure comes with some disadvantages too.
Below is a list of all the advantages and disadvantages of working with structured
data.
Advantages
 Consistent data quality. The uniform approach to organizing data ensures
consistency. As a result, the information is accurate and with minimal errors.
 Simple to analyze. The structured approach makes the data easy to query
and analyze. The quicker analysis provides valuable insights and aids in
decision-making processes.
 Easy to integrate. The straightforward design makes structured data simple
to implement in different systems. Merging information enables data sharing
across systems and departments.
  Consistent structure. A consistent approach to storing data makes the
system familiar to use. A known format simplifies communication between
different teams.
Disadvantages
 Rigid system. Structured data is not flexible. Modifying the structure and
applying changes to the system is complex.
 Limited context. Organizing data in a structured format limits the data type
scope. Variability in data provides a wider overview and better insights.
 Hard to design. As complexity grows, structured data becomes harder to
organize. Structured data is sensitive to modifications and changes.
Modeling a system requires specialized design approaches and experts.
 Expensive. Structured data requires investments. Data storage, storage
management, and maintenance experts are all costly.
Structured Data Tools
Structured data tools help create, manipulate, and manage structured data. Several
tools specialize in structured data. Below are a few examples:
 Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and LibreOffice Calc. They use similar
approaches when working with structured data. The tools use spreadsheets to
create, manipulate, and export data into various formats.
 SQL (Structured Query Language). A programming
language for MySQL and similar RDBMS. The language queries and
manages structured data in relational databases.
 Apache Hadoop. A big data framework for structured, semi-structured, and
unstructured data.
 Apache Spark. Enables large-scale processing, data streaming, and
structured data analysis with dataframes.
Note: See our detailed comparison between Hadoop vs. Spark.
 Tableau is an interactive platform for creating dashboards and translating
structured data into visuals.
  Python libraries, such as Pandas, NumPy, and SciPy, allow the
manipulation of structured data.
 R libraries for statistical programming and graphics work with structured
data.
Note: Check out our guide on how to install R on Ubnutu and how to use R
packages.
What Is Unstructured Data?
Unstructured data is data that does not follow a fixed structure format. The data
model is schema-less and cannot use traditional data processing methods.

The data includes all data formats in structured data (text, dates, numbers), and
extra complex unstructured data, such as video, audio, and documents.
Unstructured Data Formats
Some examples of unstructured data are:
  Documents, such as Word documents, PDFs, and other text-based
information.
 Images in formats such as JPEG and PNG.
 Audio data in various formats, such as WAV or MP3.
 Video files in MP4, AVI, and other formats.
 Sensor data with streams from sensors in IoT devices. For example, data
from smartwatches and various other devices and sensor systems.
 Social media posts from platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram.
 Emails with many fields and various data types and attachments.
Unstructured Data Examples
Unstructured data exists in a variety of applications and environments. Some
examples of unstructured data include:
 Communication records. Chat records, messaging, chatbot, and meeting
platform data. This includes text, images, videos, audio, and documents.
Communication data is useful from a sales and marketing perspective.
 Medical data. Healthcare records contain both machine-generated and
human-input data. Records from medical devices include images and sensor
data. Information from medical personnel has a document form. Both
contain useful data from a medical perspective.
 Security systems. Surveillance records contain a mix of unstructured video
and audio data. Some other examples include CCTV footage or 911 call
records.
 Social media data. Social media posts have an unstructured form. The
mixed format data (text, multimedia, and user information) contains valuable
insights. The data comes from platform-specific APIs.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Unstructured Data
Unstructured data provides informational richness due to the diversity of data
types. The data is difficult to manage and process due to its complexity.
Below is a list of all the advantages and disadvantages of unstructured data.
Advantages
 Diverse formats. Unstructured data contains information with valuable
contextual insights. Such diversity is not available with structured data.
 Large volumes. Most information has an unstructured format. Large data
volumes provide a comprehensive overview of a topic to an analyst.
 Real-time availability. Unstructured data is often generated in real-time.
Current information provides faster insight into issues and high-quality data.
 Flexible. The data does not conform to a schema or format, which makes it
adaptable to changes.
Disadvantages
 Inconsistent. Unstructured data varies in quality and format. Combining
data from many sources becomes difficult since there is no consistent
standard.
 Hard to process. The data requires specialized skills to use and interpret.
The dedicated tools and expertise are difficult to set up.
 No structure. The data is hard to integrate into existing workflows. A lack
of structure makes information hard to combine with different data sources.
 Security. Unstructured data often contains confidential information.
Working with such data requires extra caution to avoid data breaches.
Unstructured Data Tools
Various tools are available for processing and analyzing unstructured data. The
tools help extract information from various data formats. The simplest way to
highlight tools that work with unstructured data is by the type of data they work
with. Some helpful tools include:
 Natural Language Processing (NLP). Uses AI and machine learning to
extract information from data written in human language. Processing
language extracts meaning from any textual data. Natural language formats
 include chats, social media posts, and customer reviews. Example tools
include NLTK and GPT-3.
 Digital image processing. Computer vision tools process visual data (both
image and video). Tasks include object recognition, face detection, and
image segmentation. Some tools that perform such tasks are OpenCV,
TensorFlow, and Keras.
 Audio analysis. Audio tools use signal processing and filtering to analyze
audio data, such as speech or music. Automated transcription and speech
recognition are some examples of audio analysis tasks. Some tools include
IBM Watson text-to-speech and Google Cloud Speech-to-Text.
 Querying and indexing. Indexing tools allow organizing and searching
through unstructured data. The tools help provide a semi-structured interface
to query data. Examples include Elasticsearch, Apache Solr, and Apache
Lucene.
 Visualization. Data visualization tools help create dashboards and discover
patterns in data. Some example software includes Kibana, Tableau, and
PowerBI.

Conclusion
After reading this guide, you know the differences between structured and
unstructured data. Many tools are available for both, so learn how to utilize all data
regardless of structure.