title: How to use a slowly changing dimension in Sql Server Analysis Services
body: <p>In a data warehouse, I want to have a fact table which tracks certain metrics of a university application (average score on a standardized test, for example) and also the status of applications during different times of the year. For simpliciy, let's say a given application progresses through 3 states:</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li>New</li>
  <li>Being Assesssed</li>
  <li>Assessed</li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>and these states change over time.</p>
  
  <p>I believe I want to use a slowly changing dimension here, but I can't figure out how to get to work properly.</p>
  
  <p>Can someone give me an example of a fact table and dimension table which tracks two applications as they progress through these states? </p>
  
  <p>I'm using SQL Server Analysis Services 2005. </p>
  
  <p>The goal is to be able to do year on year analysis for the number of applications in each state.</p>