Acuate Data Quality

Are Your Data Practices Working For You

I couldn’t have said it better than Jeanne Ross, research scientist at MIT; ‘Getting to one version of the truth doesn’t have anything to do with accuracy, it has everything to do with declaring it’. For a business, not having one version of the truth could mean not knowing if there’s a problem, how big it is, what the cause is. It could mean a team is doing redundant work or not doing enough based on the information they’re being given. The lack of vital, reliable information could prove fatal for a business. Collaboration across and within teams is key,... Read more →

Data Should Tell the Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth

Disclaimer: I didn’t make this image, cartoon credit to Timo Elliott Ronald Coase, Nobel Prize winning Economist, said that ‘if you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything’. Data analysts are under constant pressure to make the data fit the decisions, rather than letting the data speak for itself. This thankless task means having to rework the data and tweak the narrative to present the answer that the people in charge want to see. Working around this type of confirmation bias can be detrimental to an organisation. You’d have to ask yourself, what insights are you really... Read more →

A Small Outline on Big Data

Do you know what the term “big data” means? If you’re a data geek, chances are you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. But I’ll admit, when I first came across the term I thought it simply meant a greater amount of data than usual. But it’s not that obvious, the size of data is relative, and for the most part I was wrong. So despite the name, one would characterise big data not by its size, but what it is used for. The best way to understand is to draw comparisons againt traditional data. Big Data vs Traditional Data... Read more →

Excel is not a Database

A very common way for businesses to store data is within Excel. People are convinced of Excel’s superiority as a database. I mean, after all, Excel is familiar right? It’s easy and it’s user-friendly and you’ve been using it for years. There is just one problem with this – Excel is not a database. Excel was made as a spreadsheet application. Sure, it is a great complement to any database due to its ability to turn your rows of data into nice looking charts and reports. But when it comes down to it, storing your data is not a job... Read more →

Good Data Wins, Always – Mathematical Proof

How bad does someone’s data have to be before they realise that bad data just doesn’t work. Working with bad data gets bad results. You try and get away with it until it no longer works for you. You realise you cannot carry on. With no choice, you see that good data is the only way to be. As with so many things in life only when things go wrong do you change your attitude towards something…I’ve been there many times myself…it’s only human. So, let’s learn this lesson a little earlier, before things go really bad for your data.... Read more →