What is it?
The reduction in the precision of data. Example; converting age into an age range, or a precise location into a less precise location.
The design of generalisation (e.g. data range, precision) varies according to the intended purpose.
When to use it?
When values can be generalised and yet still be useful for the intended purpose.
This dataset contains participant's name (already pseudonymised), age, and residential address. For the "Age", we can generalise it into an "Age Range" (e.g. 21-30, 31-40, 41-50, 51-60, >60). For the "Address", one possible approach is to remove the block/house number and retain only the road name.
Before anonymisation:
| Participant | Age | Address |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 24 | 700 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| A2 | 31 | 800 Ang Mo Kio Ave 12 |
| A3 | 44 | 900 Jurong East St 70 |
| A4 | 29 | 750 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| A5 | 23 | 10 Tampines St 90 |
| B1 | 75 | 50 Jurong East St 70 |
| B2 | 28 | 720 Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| B3 | 50 | 810 Ang Mo Kio Ave 12 |
| B4 | 30 | 15 Tampines St 90 |
| B5 | 37 | 18 Tampines St 90 |
After anonymisation:
| Participant | Age Range | Address |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | 21-30 | Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| A2 | 31-40 | Ang Mo Kio Ave 12 |
| A3 | 41-50 | Jurong East St 70 |
| A4 | 21-30 | Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| A5 | 21-30 | Tampines St 90 |
| B1 | >60 | Jurong East St 70 |
| B2 | 21-30 | Toa Payoh Lorong 5 |
| B3 | 41-50 | Ang Mo Kio Ave 12 |
| B4 | 21-30 | Tampines St 90 |
| B5 | 31-40 | Tampines St 90 |
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