[Informatics] Factors that harm accuracy. (Warning - bad cow jokes.)

Sun Sep 4 21:47:45 AEST 2016

Hang on. I'll get my cowculator...

On Sunday, 4 September 2016, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Don't believe a word the dog says, he only provided a ruff estimate and is
> a paw source of primary data.
>
> Pull on those wellies and count the cows yourself.
>
> On 4 September 2016 at 21:10, Mark <mark at vceit.com
> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','mark at vceit.com');>> wrote:
>
>> So you're saying that a dog performing maths is inaccurate, but a talking
>> dog is incorrect?
>>
>> Interesting philosophical point...
>>
>>
>> On Sunday, 4 September 2016, Roland Gesthuizen <rgesthuizen at gmail.com
>> <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','rgesthuizen at gmail.com');>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hmm, you could add this to the list.
>>>
>>>
>>> After a talking farm dog gets all the cows into the milking shed, he
>>> reports back to the farmer: “All 40 accounted for.”
>>>
>>>
>>> “But I only have 36 cows,” says the farmer.
>>>
>>>
>>> “I know,” says the dog. “But I rounded them up.”
>>>
>>> On 2 September 2016 at 15:01, Mark <mark at vceit.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi, accurate ones,
>>>>
>>>> Following on from the recent fist fight about accuracy vs correctness,
>>>> today I have been pondering...
>>>>
>>>> *ITI U3O2KK05 - "criteria to check the integrity of data including ...
>>>> accuracy"*
>>>>
>>>> I started wondering about factors that might affect the *accuracy* of
>>>> data or information.
>>>>
>>>> N.B. *Not* 'correctness'. Or 'precision'.
>>>>
>>>> Let's accept that data are an abstract representation of phenomena in
>>>> the real world, such as "There are four cows in the top paddock."
>>>>
>>>> The actual cows are the reality.
>>>> The recorded number of them is the data.
>>>>
>>>> The data representing this cow fact might be - or become - inaccurate
>>>> due to:
>>>>
>>>> - going out of date - the state of the real world has changed (a few
>>>> new cows were put into the paddock) but the data has not been updated to
>>>> reflect that change.
>>>> Or the number of cows had been copied from one database to a mirrored
>>>> site, but the mirror has not been synchronised recently with the master
>>>> copy so the mirror is no longer representative of the true current size of
>>>> the herd of cows*.
>>>>
>>>> - being damaged - someone accidentally or deliberately changes the text
>>>> "4 cows" to "40 cows".
>>>> Or disk rot caused the recorded data to be misread by the digital
>>>> system.
>>>>
>>>> - poor initial data collection - the cows were counted by someone
>>>> glancing out of the window of a fast-moving car, or the cows kept moving
>>>> about and some were counted twice.
>>>>
>>>> - an unreliable data source - there were not four cows: they were
>>>> goats. The data came from an idiot in the city who could not tell the
>>>> difference.
>>>>
>>>> - bias - the cow-counter had some reason to misrepresent the true
>>>> number of cows in the top paddock, e.g. to reduce his tax bill, or to
>>>> impress the milk maid next door.
>>>>
>>>> - faulty data processing - the wrong formula was used in the
>>>> spreadsheet that added up the number of cows.
>>>>
>>>> - poor validation - the number of cows was entered into the software as
>>>> "four" instead of "4". The software was not expecting text, and - because
>>>> there were no recognisable digits - its *VAL(numCows)* function
>>>> converted the word "four" into a numeric value of zero.
>>>>
>>>> - translation or conversion errors - the reader of the data did not
>>>> speak English and relied on an incorrect electronic translation of the
>>>> text.
>>>> Or the text said "There are 4 (four) cows" and a careless data entry
>>>> person entered "There are 4 (4) cows" which was later turned into "There
>>>> are 44 cows".
>>>> Or poor optical character recognition of "4 cows" became "9 cows".
>>>>
>>>> True story: I was listening to an audiobook about the history of space
>>>> travel and was astounded to hear that "Apollo Two landed on the moon." It
>>>> took me a while to realise that the text must have been "Apollo 11 landed
>>>> on the moon" but the narrator mistook "11" for the Roman numerals "II".
>>>> Sadly, no cows were involved.
>>>>
>>>> Can anyone think of other interesting ways in which data/info accuracy
>>>> may be reduced ?
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>> Mark
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Notes:
>>>>
>>>> 1. This post is cow-neutral. I have NO bovine agenda. It is true that I
>>>> did help milk cows when I lived on a dairy farm in Yarrawalla while
>>>> teaching in Boort (1980-1985) but there was NO inappropriate activity,
>>>> *especially* with cow 1056. Rumours to the contrary are udderly
>>>> untrue, in spite of what Doris might moo.
>>>>
>>>> 2. To comply with the federal *Cow Comedy Act (1953)*, I am obliged to
>>>> refer you to the anthem: Cows with Guns
>>>> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQMbXvn2RNI>.
>>>>
>>>> * Herd of cows? Of course I've heard of cows. Bad cow pun.
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>>
>>>> Mark Kelly
>>>>
>>>> mark at vceit.com
>>>> http://vceit.com
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> VCE Informatics Mailing List kindly supported by
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>>>> - Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>
>>>> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology
>>>> Teachers Association Inc <br>
>>>> http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools - Swinburne University
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> --
>>> *Roland Gesthuizen*
>>> http://about.me/rgesthuizen
>>>
>>> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
>>> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
>>> Mead
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Mark Kelly
>>
>> mark at vceit.com <javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','mark at vceit.com');>
>> http://vceit.com
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> http://www.edulists.com.au - FAQ, resources, subscribe, unsubscribe
>> VCE Informatics Mailing List kindly supported by
>> http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/infotech/itapplications3-4.html -
>> Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority <br>
>> http://www.vitta.org.au  - VITTA Victorian Information Technology
>> Teachers Association Inc <br>
>> http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ict/schools - Swinburne University
>>
>
>
>
> --
> --
> *Roland Gesthuizen*
> http://about.me/rgesthuizen
>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
> change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
> Mead
>

-- 

Mark Kelly

mark at vceit.com
http://vceit.com
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