Ways in which good quality information can add value to an organisation
Process: Monitor progress
Example: A shop analyses the performance of its POS terminal operators and warns operators who are too slow or make too many mistakes.
Information obtained by market research and sales figures can help achieve this.
Process: Spot
Costs of getting good quality information in terms of; time, money and human resources
Designing/Creating Data Collection sheets
e.g. Pay someone to create the forms.
Takes time to trial the sheets before using for real.
Data Collection
e.g. New staff have to be employed to go and ask people questions.
Training needed to show the team how t
Costs of getting good quality information in terms of; time, money and human resources (2)
Processing
e.g. New software/hardware has to be written/purchased to allow the results to be obtained before the data gets out of date.
Maintenance/Updating
Staff have to be employed to keep the hardware running and to modify the software when legislation
Describe why the data contained in the school system must be kept up-to-date.
Schools get funded on the number of pupils according to year, location; may get the wrong funding if information is not up-to-date
If contact details are out of date then letters to parents might not get to them / might need to contact parents in an emerg
Costs in relation to the school's administration system.
Financial: Cost of posting letters to parents on an annual basis to check whether their data is correct.
Time: Time taken to enter data / time taken to check data on the system with the SEN register or LEA free school meals lists
Human: Extra staff needed
Characteristics of Good Quality Information
- Accurate
- Correctly Targeted
- Understandable
- Complete
- Relevant
- Up to Date
Accurate
There should be no mistakes in the data
Example:
Wrong postcode will prevent delivery of items.
Correctly Targeted
The question should be targeted at the people who are going to use it
Example:
no good asking vegetarians about meat eating.
Understandable
The meaning of any information should be clear to the user.
Example:
A manager might misunderstand a complex table and order the wrong items.
Relevant
Data has to be related to the task you are trying to investigate.
Example:
No good collecting information on ice-cream sales in Alaska in the winter if you want to open your kiosk in California.
Complete
Has to include all the information.
Example:
letters not having postcodes take longer to deliver
Up-to-date
Information changes with time and without a date stamp it could be too old to be useful.
Example:
Using a five year old mailing list might end up in letters being sent to dead people or people who have moved.
Electronic Methods of Collecting Information
Internet/search engines:
- Key word searches
- Interactive resources
- Editable information
- Up-to-date information
Email Teachers:
- Books may not be available; email could give faster response
Chat to other students / tutors (blog):
- Real time convers