8 - Data quality Flashcards
What is data quality?
A measure of how well data represents real-world phenomena for business purposes
The four dimensions of quality are accuracy, validity, accessibility, and timeliness.
What are the four dimensions of data quality?
- Accurate
- Valid
- Accessible
- Timely
Why is data quality important for businesses?
Improves effectiveness and trust in data, leading to better decision-making and opportunities
Poor data quality can result in significant financial losses, as illustrated by past business failures.
What can poor data quality lead to in a business?
- Missed opportunities
- Poor decision-making
- Increased complaints
- Regulatory issues
What was one major consequence for British Gas due to poor data quality?
The company wrote off £200 million in 2008 due to customer complaints and lost a million customers
Complaints primarily involved billing issues.
What is a potential risk of poor GDPR compliance?
Having multiple records of the same customer, leading to incomplete data deletion requests.
What does Principle (d) of GDPR state?
You should ensure personal data held is not incorrect or misleading
This principle emphasizes the importance of data accuracy.
What is one example of a failure due to poor data quality?
Marketing targeting the wrong customers, leading to low response rates
This can result in wasted resources and missed revenue opportunities.
What is the first step to improve data quality in a project?
Convincing the business that improving data quality is important and useful.
What are some benefits of high-quality data?
- Creates efficiency
- Eliminates errors
- Improves decision-making
- Enhances security
- Provides quality reporting
- Facilitates linking and sharing
- Allows honest appraisal
- Meets legal obligations
- Measures performance
- Controls budgets
What does the availability of data mean in the context of data quality?
Data users need relevant data to make decisions, which should be accessible as soon as it becomes available.
What is meant by the timeliness of data?
Data should be captured and available quickly enough to support effective performance management.
How can accuracy of data be achieved?
By capturing data as close to the point of service delivery as possible.
What does ‘COUNT’ stand for in the context of data accuracy?
Collect Once, Use Numerous Times.
Fill in the blank: Poor-quality data means that a business will miss potential opportunities to _______.
[grow]
True or False: Poor data quality can lead to prosecution.
True
What is a common issue with small cohorts of customer data?
They may be unbalanced and not representative of the larger population.
What is a potential consequence of complex or irrelevant performance indicators?
They may be misunderstood or misreported.
What can a limited data quality audit provide?
A useful quick win that can lead to more strategic initiatives.
What was discovered about a marketing list that had never been investigated?
20 percent of the customers were deceased, leading to wasted marketing resources.
What is essential for ensuring data quality across different business units?
Recognizing that information requirements vary, but the need for good-quality data does not.
What is the relationship between data consistency and real-world processes?
Data that is consistent is more likely to reflect the real-world process that generates it, and so can be used with higher confidence when you make decisions.
What must be balanced with the importance of data uses?
The costs and effort of collecting it.
Why is it important for users of data to know about compromises in data accuracy?
So they don’t assume that accuracy is greater than it is.
