This is cross-column dependency profiling. The issue cannot be identified merely by counting null values in Closure_Date because some nulls may be legitimate for active accounts. The defect becomes meaningful only when the relationship between two attributes is examined.
The implied business rule is: if Account_Status = Closed, then Closure_Date must be populated. Dependency profiling examines relationships among values and can reveal conditional completeness, inconsistent combinations, functional dependencies, and other multi-attribute patterns.
The next step is to confirm the inferred pattern with business stakeholders rather than automatically converting it into an enforced rule. There may be exceptional account categories where a closed status legitimately lacks a closure date.
Once approved, the rule should be documented as metadata, assigned to a Data Steward, measured against an agreed threshold, and monitored. Root-cause investigation can then determine whether missing dates arise from source-screen design, process bypass, conversion defects, or integration failures.
DAMA's revised Chapter 13 places Data Quality techniques in a more practical sequence and strengthens their linkage with Data Modeling and Metadata Management.
Reference Topics: DAMA-DMBOK2 Chapter 13 — Data Profiling; Dependency Analysis; Completeness; Business Rules; Metadata Management.
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