A data analyst is creating a document that covers guidelines and transformation of the suite of sales dashboards that they are responsible for delivering. Which of the following is the analyst most likely creating?

• A. Data flow diagram
• B. Data lineage
• C. Data dictionary
• D. Data versioning

Answer: (B)

Understanding how data moves from its sources through transformations to where it’s consumed is key here. Data lineage captures the origins of data, the steps it undergoes (transformations), and how it flows into final outputs like dashboards. When a data analyst creates a document of guidelines and transformations for a set of sales dashboards, they’re essentially documenting the data’s journey and governance—where it comes from, what changes are applied, and where it ends up. This traceability is what data lineage provides, making it easier to assess impact when sources or processes change, ensure accuracy, and comply with governance requirements.

A data flow diagram focuses on showing data movement between processes and systems, which can illustrate the path but may not fully document the transformation history or governance metadata. A data dictionary concentrates on definitions of data elements, their types, and constraints, not the end-to-end flow. Data versioning tracks changes over time to data assets but doesn’t comprehensively map origins and transformations.