8. Common errors

Errors can creep in at different points.

When capturing the data

There may be a fault in the way data is entered by the user. For example entering 'Smyth' instead of 'Smith'.

This is called a 'transcription error'.

When inputting the data

There may be a fault in loading the data into the system. For example hitting the wrong key on the keyboard or typing in the wrong order such as 'reprot' instead of 'report' or typing '123' instead or '132'.

This is a 'transpostion error'

When processing the data

A programmer may have a bug in their processing code and so it does not process the data properly. For example using the wrong conversion rate for converting dollars into pounds.

When transmitting the data

This is where errors creep in because of a problem with the path the data takes to go from A to B. For example a satellite link is used to send data from the UK to France, but a thunderstorm causes some of the data received to be corrupted. (You can often see this kind of error in digital television as blocky pictures and glitchy sound).

The way some of these errors can be spotted is by using data validation. We have a complete mini-web on this topic here