Information quality (IQ) is the quality of the content of

information system An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...

s. It is often pragmatically defined as: "The fitness for use of the information provided". IQ frameworks also provides a tangible approach to assess and measure DQ/IQ in a

robust Robustness is the property of being strong and healthy in constitution. When it is transposed into a system, it refers to the ability of tolerating perturbations that might affect the system’s functional body. In the same line ''robustness'' ca ...

and

rigorous Rigour (British English) or rigor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) describes a condition of stiffness or strictness. These constraints may be environmentally imposed, su ...

manner.

Conceptual problems

Although this pragmatic definition is usable for most everyday purposes, specialists often use more complex models for information quality. Most information system practitioners use the term synonymously with

data quality Data quality refers to the state of qualitative or quantitative pieces of information. There are many definitions of data quality, but data is generally considered high quality if it is "fit for tsintended uses in operations, decision making a ...

. However, as many academics make a distinction between

data In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete Value_(semiotics), values that convey information, describing quantity, qualitative property, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of sy ...

and

information Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...

, some will the process to guarantee confidence that particular information meets some context specific quality requirements. It has been suggested, however, that higher the quality the greater will be the confidence in meeting more general, less specific contexts.

Dimensions and metrics of information quality

"Information quality" is a measure of the value which the information provides to the user of that information. "Quality" is often perceived as subjective and the quality of information can then vary among users and among uses of the information. Nevertheless, a high degree of quality increases its objectivity or at least the

intersubjectivity In philosophy, psychology, sociology, and anthropology, intersubjectivity is the relation or intersection between people's cognitive perspectives. Definition is a term coined by social scientists to refer to a variety of types of human interac ...

. Accuracy can be seen as just one element of IQ but, depending upon how it is defined, can also be seen as encompassing many other dimensions of quality. If not, it is perceived that often there is a trade-off between accuracy and other dimensions, aspects or elements of the information determining its suitability for any given tasks. Richard Wang and Diane Strong propose a list of dimensions or elements used in assessing Information Quality is: * Intrinsic IQ:

accuracy Accuracy and precision are two measures of ''observational error''. ''Accuracy'' is how close a given set of measurements ( observations or readings) are to their ''true value'', while ''precision'' is how close the measurements are to each oth ...

, objectivity, Believability,

reputation The reputation of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity typically as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. Reputation is a ubiquitous ...

* Contextual IQ:

relevance Relevance is the concept of one topic being connected to another topic in a way that makes it useful to consider the second topic when considering the first. The concept of relevance is studied in many different fields, including cognitive sci ...

value-added In business, total value added is calculated by tabulating the unit value added (measured by summing unit profit sale price and production cost">Price.html" ;"title="he difference between Price">sale price and production cost], unit depreciation ...

, Wikt:timeliness, Timeliness, Completeness, amount of information * Representational IQ:

interpretability In mathematical logic, interpretability is a relation between formal theories that expresses the possibility of interpreting or translating one into the other. Informal definition Assume ''T'' and ''S'' are formal theories. Slightly simplified, '' ...

, format, coherence, compatibility * Accessibility IQ: accessibility, access security Other authors propose similar but different lists of dimensions for analysis, and emphasize measurement and reporting as information quality metrics. Larry English prefers the term "characteristics" to dimensions. In fact, a considerable amount of information quality research involves investigating and describing various categories of desirable attributes (or dimensions) of data. Research has recently shown the huge diversity of terms and classification structures used. While information as a distinct term has various ambiguous definitions, there's one which is more general, such as "description of events". While the occurrences being described cannot be subjectively evaluated for quality, since they're very much autonomous events in space and time, their description can—since it possesses a garnishment attribute, unavoidably attached by the medium which carried the information, from the initial moment of the occurrences being described. In an attempt to deal with this natural phenomenon, qualified professionals primarily representing the researchers' guild, have at one point or another identified particular metrics for information quality. They could also be described as 'quality traits' of information, since they're not so easily quantified, but rather subjectively identified on an individual basis.

Quality metrics

* Authority/verifiability Authority refers to the expertise or recognized official status of a source. Consider the reputation of the author and publisher. When working with legal or government information, consider whether the source is the official provider of the information. Verifiability refers to the ability of a reader to verify the validity of the information irrespective of how authoritative the source is. To verify the facts is part of the duty of care of the journalistic deontology, as well as, where possible, to provide the sources of information so that they can be verified * Scope of coverage Scope of coverage refers to the extent to which a source explores a topic. Consider time periods, geography or jurisdiction and coverage of related or narrower topics. * Composition and organization Composition and organization has to do with the ability of the information source to present its particular message in a coherent, logically sequential manner. * Objectivity Objectivity is the bias or opinion expressed when a writer interprets or analyze facts. Consider the use of persuasive language, the source’s presentation of other viewpoints, its reason for providing the information and advertising. * Integrity # Adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character # The state of being whole, entire, or undiminished * Comprehensiveness # Of large scope; covering or involving much; inclusive: a comprehensive study. # Comprehending mentally; having an extensive mental grasp. # Insurance. covering or providing broad protection against loss. * Validity Validity of some information has to do with the degree of obvious truthfulness which the information carries * Uniqueness As much as ‘uniqueness’ of a given piece of information is intuitive in meaning, it also significantly implies not only the originating point of the information but also the manner in which it is presented and thus the perception which it conjures. The essence of any piece of information we process consists to a large extent of those two elements. * Timeliness Timeliness refers to information that is current at the time of publication. Consider publication, creation and revision dates. Beware of Web site scripting that automatically reflects the current day’s date on a page. * Reproducibility (utilized primarily when referring to instructive information) Means that documented methods are capable of being used on the same data set to achieve a consistent result.

Professional associations

;IQ International—the International Association for Information and Data Quality :IQ International is a not-for-profit, vendor neutral, professional association formed in 2004, dedicated to building the information and data quality profession.

Information quality conferences

A number of major conferences relevant to information quality are held annually: ;Annual MIT Chief Data Officer & Information Quality (CDOIQ) Symposium :Annual conferences held at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, Cambridge, MA, USA ;Data Governance and Information Quality Conference :Commercial conferences held each year in the USA ;Data Quality Asia Pacific :Commercial conference held annually in Sydney or Melbourne, Australia ;Enterprise Data and Business Intelligence Conference Europe :Commercial conferences held annually in London, England. ;Information and Data Quality Conference :Not for profit conference run annually by IQ International (the International Association for Information and Data Quality) in the USA ;International Conference on Information Quality :Academic Conference launched through MITIQ held annually at a University ;Master Data Management & Data Governance ConferencesMDM SUMMIT Conference
/ref> :Six major conferences are run annually by the MDM Institute in venues such as London, San Francisco, Sydney, Toronto, Madrid, Frankfurt, Shanghai and New York City.

References