Enterprise Knowledge Management

5

DIMENSIONS OF DATA QUALITY

The definition of poor data quality is similar to Justice Potter Stewart’s definition of obscenity: We know it when we see it. If we truly want to improve data quality, however, we must find a way to measure it, and the first step in measuring something is to define what that something is. In this chapter, we try to define that “something” by listing the many dimensions of data quality.

Good data quality is frequently defined in terms of “fitness for use.” Yet, it is difficult to delineate fitness when there are no metrics against which to measure it. Therefore, before we discuss how to improve data quality, let’s first look at ways to measure it. The assessment of any data set’s levels of data quality — whether ...