Final answer:
Normalization is the process of organizing data in a relational database to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity, often resulting in additional tables for a more flexible structure.
Step-by-step explanation:
The process of minimizing the duplication of information in a relational database through effective database design is known as normalization. Normalization involves organizing the data in the database to reduce redundancy and improve data integrity. The goal is to divide the data into atomic units that can be recombined without redundancy. Normalization can lead to the creation of additional tables but also to a more flexible database structure that can easily accommodate changes.
When considering tables and how to group data, it's often advantageous to organize information in a table that reflects the productivity of countries in terms of how many workers it takes to produce a unit of a product. Different groupings can either simplify the understanding or handling of the data for particular use cases.
Different levels of normalization are defined, typically ranging from the first normal form (1NF) to the third normal form (3NF) or even higher normal forms like BCNF (Boyce-Codd Normal Form). Each level of normalization sets specific requirements that must be met, from eliminating repeating groups of data to removing all transitive dependencies.