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Quality of Data and Information
Quality of Data and Information
Data and information can be collected, stored and interpreted for a particular purpose or activity, including research. The findings or results may be of significant benefit to the participants or their relatives, as in the case of the analysis of human biological specimens; conversely, it is worth noting that there could be psychological, social or legal risks involved.
The purpose of disseminating outcomes from the interpretation of the information is to make a contribution to knowledge.
The idea of GIGO, or Garbage In, Garbage Out says that in any system, the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input.
In order for data to have high quality, it must be:
Relevant
Accurate
Correct
Free of Bias
Reliable
If data has all of these attributes it is said to have high integrity
Relevant
Relevant
To produce usable information, data must be relevant. For example, if a computing department in an organisation is evaluating PC-only software, then surveying people who only use an Apple device is not useful. The data collected from Apple users would not be relevant to the overall data collection.
Accurate
Accurate
Data that is collected must be accurate, otherwise the insights will be poor and decisions based on this data could cause integrity issues. Transcription is often a cause of error. Transcription errors occur when the person entering the data misreads the information through, for example, a lapse in concentration or being interrupted, or presses the wrong key.
Correct
Correct
Data must accurately represent the real world situation it is meant to signify. Data can be accurate but just not true. A researcher must take steps to ensure this.
Timely
Timely
Data also needs to be processed while it is current, because decision making should be based on current data, not outdated data.
Free From Bias
Free From Bias
Bias can easily creep into data and make the information processed from it unreliable. Several influences can lead to the introduction of bias into data; these include vested interests, timing and small sample sizes.
Reliable
Reliable
The internet has made it easier for people to communicate their views and present information in a format that is easily accessible to others. There are many personal websites, homemade videos, wikis, podcasts, vodcasts and a plethora of unchecked information on the internet, and some of the views presented may not be widely accepted or proven to be accurate. Alternatively, there are many sources on the internet that are reliable, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Smithsonian Institution, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, UN Data, Google Public Data Explorer, Eurostat and universities
Do This:
Create a list of five organisations in Australia that provide data sets for public use. They may be government departments or private organisations, or a mix of both.
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