enquiries@rodlaird.co.uk »
Freephone 0800 612 0910
Freefax 0800 612 0920
Now taking bookings
Bookmark and Share

10 ways to make sure inputting data happens properly (Boring but VERY important) (09 Jun 08)

Hardly the most riveting topic, you may say - but you’d better understand it if you care about quality of your surveys. And a reader sent a really good piece about it.


There’s an old acronym in IT circles you may have heard: GIGO.

It stands for “Garbage In – Garbage Out”.

This applies to this subject in spades – as it did to a piece I recently wrote about how everybody underestimates the importance of survey interviewers.

The gist of what I said was simple.

You can pay all the attention you want to sampling, designing the questionnaire and interpreting the result, but if your interviewers let you down, you’re in trouble. Your findings will be based on erroneous information and it’s all a waste of time.

I also commented that people underestimate the importance of the stage where the information you collect is inputted into survey software.

Tim Williams

Like to read more or make a comment? Log in or register below



Why not join the discussion!

Or even better still offer your own advice and tell us about things that others can learn from.

We moderate comments lightly so bear with us and we'll get your thoughts listed as soon as we can.

You must be logged in to post comments.

Not registered yet? Simply fill in the box below.

Email
Password
Forgotten your password?

Like to have access to this and hundreds of other articles like it? Register now!

Just pop your details in the form below, and you'll have full access to our library as well as receiving the free articles you have requested.

Research and evaluation
Resident involvement
Community involvement
Patient involvement
Communications & marketing
Equality and diversity
Community safety
All of these
Your work email

Already subscribed? Want to manage your account? »

Log in

New?

Register now to benefit from hundreds of free hints, tips, articles and interviews

Your email address:

Contact us»

Latest Twitter updates

Why not try these articles? 

5 very quick things to think about when analyzing research data

10 ways to make sure inputting data happens properly (Boring but VERY important)

12 things to do to make sure your research results get used

13 things about data that you should be familar with

A step by step guide to analysing a file of performance data

Analysing research data – survival skills your staff can’t do without

A step by step guide to turning data into information you can use to make wiser decisions

Freakonomics? Or lead? Something for you to think about

Graphs: an underrated technique for analysing research data

Want better results? Delve a little deeper into the data

What your colleagues revealed about turning data into decisions – some helpful tips

What your colleagues would like to know about analysing and interpreting data