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.

- There may not have been enough people interviewed for any conclusions to be reliable. For example, asking just two people is not likely to be enough.

Human mistakes

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

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.