The role of data normalization in databases is to organize data efficiently by reducing redundancy and ensuring data integrity. Normalization involves structuring a database to avoid duplication of data and facilitate consistency across related data entries. Through a series of normalization forms, data is divided into related tables to optimize CRUD operations—Create, Read, Update, Delete. This process simplifies database maintenance, enhances performance, and ensures that data anomalies are minimized, contributing to overall database reliability and usability.