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Source quality

Characteristic Name: Source quality
Dimension: Reliability and Credibility
Description: Data used is from trusted and credible sources
Granularity: Information object
Implementation Type: Process-based approach
Characteristic Type: Usage

Verification Metric:

The number of tasks failed or under performed due to lack of source quality
The number of complaints received due to lack of source quality

GuidelinesExamplesDefinitons

The implementation guidelines are guidelines to follow in regard to the characteristic. The scenarios are examples of the implementation

Guidelines: Scenario:
Asses the reputation of data sources (1) Central Bank is the best source to get daily exchange rates
Evaluate the remedies for non-compliance of data (1) Any remedies given by the source organisation to mitigate the losses in case if the information is of low quality
Rely on shared information sources created\recommended\used by the organisations operating in the industry (1) In performing portfolios analysis most organisations use the risk factors produced by a central body of the economy (Central bank)

Validation Metric:

How mature is the process to maintain quality of data sources

These are examples of how the characteristic might occur in a database.

Example: Source:
Consider an inventory database that contains part numbers, warehouse locations, quantity on hand, and other information. However, it does not contain source information (where the parts came from). If a part is supplied by multiple suppliers, once the parts are received and put on the shelf there is no indication of which supplier the parts came from. The information in the database is always accurate and current. For normal inventory transactions and deci- sion making, the database is certainly of high quality. If a supplier reports that one of their shipments contained defective parts, this database is of no help in identifying whether they have any of those parts or not. The database is of poor quality because it does not contain a relevant element of information. Without that information, the database is poor data quality for the intended use. J. E. Olson, “Data Quality: The Accuracy Dimension”, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 9 January 2003.

The Definitions are examples of the characteristic that appear in the sources provided.

Definition: Source:
The source of information (1) guarantees the quality of information it provides with remedies for non-compliance; (2) documents its certification in its Information Quality Management capabilities to capture, maintain, and deliver Quality Information; (3) provides objective and verifiable measures of the Quality of Information it provides in agreed-upon Quality Characteristics; and (4) guarantees that the Information has been protected from unauthorized access or modification. ENGLISH, L. P. 2009. Information quality applied: Best practices for improving business information, processes and systems, Wiley Publishing.
The notion of abstracting information into a data domain implies that there are enough users of the same set of data that it makes sense to manage their own versions. The dimension of enterprise agreement of usage measures the degree to which different organizations conform to the usage of the enterprise data domain of record instead of relying on their own data set. LOSHIN, D. 2001. Enterprise knowledge management: The data quality approach, Morgan Kaufmann Pub.
Reputation is the extent to which data are trusted or highly regarded in terms of their source or content. SCANNAPIECO, M. & CATARCI, T. 2002. Data quality under a computer science perspective. Archivi & Computer, 2, 1-15.
The degree of reputation of an information object in a given community or culture. STVILIA, B., GASSER, L., TWIDALE, M. B. & SMITH, L. C. 2007. A framework for information quality assessment. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 58, 1720-1733.
Data are trusted or highly regarded in terms of their source and content. WANG, R. Y. & STRONG, D. M. 1996. Beyond accuracy: What data quality means to data consumers. Journal of management information systems, 5-33.

 

Business rules compliance

Characteristic Name: Business rules compliance
Dimension: Validity
Description: Data should comply with business rules
Granularity: Element
Implementation Type: Rule-based approach
Characteristic Type: Declarative

Verification Metric:

The number of tasks failed or under performed due to lack of data precision
The number of complaints received due to lack of data precision

GuidelinesExamplesDefinitons

The implementation guidelines are guidelines to follow in regard to the characteristic. The scenarios are examples of the implementation

Guidelines: Scenario:
Identify data related business rules separately (business rules that determines the value of data elements and business rules that get executed depending on the values of data elements) and organise them into a separate executable data rules engine (1) The system maintains price routines to handle price related data Element :Discount rate
A price routine (procedure) can be maintained to calculate the discount rate considering the rules

R1:All registered customers get a discount of 6%
R2:All gold customers get a discount of 12%
R3:All purchases greater than $500 get a discount of 5%

Implement a stewardship structure for business rules (parallel to stewardship structure for data) and manage the changes to the rules properly (1) Sales director is responsible for discounts and his approval is needed to change a discount rate. Only the sales manager can change the rules related to discounts.
Maintain an error log to identify the problems resulted in the data rules repository where the problematic data records can be identified precisely (1) Rules engines
Continuously monitor the root causes for the errors recorded in the log and take preventive actions by amending the rules, fixing the technical defects in the system etc. (1) Some trip data is missing for a particular journey in the go card system and as a result an unacceptable journey duration was resulted. New rules were implemented to process such data using a different criteria

Validation Metric:

How mature is the creation and implementation of the data related business rules

These are examples of how the characteristic might occur in a database.

Example: Source:
One common example in education is the student school of record. While most students do not change schools during an academic year, many do, especially in urban settings. Thus, the school at which students are tested may not be the school at which they received most of their instruction. Because school-level student achievement measures become increasingly invalid as the number of mobile students increases, many districts will hold schools accountable only for those students who were enrolled for a full academic year. In this case, student achievement measures for a given school lose validity as the percentage of mobile students increases. J. G. Watson, S. B. Kraemer, and C. A. Thorn, “Data Quality Essentials. Guide to Implementation: Resources for Applied Practice”, August 2009.

The Definitions are examples of the characteristic that appear in the sources provided.

Definition: Source:
Determines the extent to which data is not missing important relationship linkages. For example, the launch date for a new product must be valid and must be the first week of any quarter, since all new products are launched in the first week of each quarter. D. McGilvray, “Executing Data Quality Projects: Ten Steps to Quality Data and Trusted Information”, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2008.
1) Data values conform to the Specified Business Rules.

2) A derived or calculated data value is Produced Correctly according to a specified Calculation Formula or set of Derivation Rules.

ENGLISH, L. P. 2009. Information quality applied: Best practices for improving business information, processes and systems, Wiley Publishing.