3. Accuracy

If the data that you have collected is inaccurate then the information it will produce will inevitably also be inaccurate.

Examples of how inaccurate data occurs

Questionnaires and surveys

- Questions might be poorly worded so that users misunderstand them.

- Questions could be considered to be 'leading' which would result in biased answers.

- Open questions might be used where closed questions would have been better.

- Options provided are not sufficient to cover the range of answers possible

- A poor or unrepresentative population sample might be selected.

Human error

If humans are collecting the data manually e.g. recording answers to questionnaires, writing down instrument measurements, they might make a mistake.

They might also make a 'transcription error' when entering correctly collected data into the system.

Calibration of instruments

If data is being collected automatically by sensors or other instruments then the results could be inaccurate if the instruments were not correctly calibrated at the start of the data collection period.