Quality Of Information Flashcards
Complete
Information must include all the data that the user needs to make his decision. Nothing should be left out. E.g. If making a hotel room booking, the receptionist needs to know if disabled facilities are required. When delivering stock, the warehouse needs to know when the shop is open.
Accurate
No errors! Even minor errors can lead to poor quality decisions being made e.g. giving someone a +£5000 balance instead of - £5000. Entering a bank account number as 46573 instead of 45673 could lead to the wrong account being charged or the wrong person being blacklisted.
Up-to-date
Information should be accurate when it is presented. It should be a true reflection of how things are at the time. E.g. Name changes when a person gets married or changes their address or car
Relevant
Information should not include data that is not needed. Receiving more information than is needed can lead to information overload and the information needed to be able to make effective decisions becomes lost amongst data that is not needed.
Correctly targeted
Information should be presented to the people who need it. Giving information to people who don’t need it can lead to information overload. It can also create confusion and could result in confidential information being in the wrong hands
Understandable
Information should be set out in a clear format that is appropriate for the intended audience.
Timely
Accurate information must be available when needed. No decision should be based on ‘accurate’ information which is 2 weeks old!
Has user confidence
Information should have the confidence of the users. If the user believes the data is inaccurate or the original source of the data is unreliable then the information will be useless to them. No decision can be made based on such information.
Methods used to keep data up to date..
Frequent updating (typing in the changes)
Frequent collecting of data through questionnaires, letters or checksheets
Interactive systems where a person can update his/her own details
Deleting out-of-date data or data which is no longer needed
Making sure that all copies of the data are updated so that everyone uses the same,
amended data.
Online and non-ICT sources.
Online; intranet, internet and CD-ROMs
Non-ICT; magazines, newspapers and text books.
Advantages and disadvantages of online sources.
Advantages; Availability, Up-to-date and Quantity.
Disadvantages; Expensive to buy/use, Quality not always guaranteed and Difficult to find the right information
Advantages and disadvantages of non-ICT sources.
Advantages; Cheaper (no equipment needed), Quality assured, Easy to use and Accessible anywhere by anyone.
Disadvantages; Out-of-date as soon as published and Can be bulky or heavy
