This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Fisher, C. W. Articles by Ballou, D. P. Search for Related Content

The Impact of Experience and Time on the Use of Data Quality Information in Decision Making

Information Systems, Marist College, Poughkeepsie, New York 12601
Management Science and Information Systems, SUNY, University at Albany, Albany, New York 12222
Management Science and Information Systems, SUNY, University at Albany, Albany, New York 12222
craig.fisher{at}marist.edu
shobha{at}albany.edu
d.ballou{at}albany.edu

Data Quality Information (DQI) is metadata that can be included with data to provide the user with information regarding the quality of that data. As users are increasingly removed from any personal experience with data, knowledge that would be beneficial in judging the appropriateness of the data for the decision to be made has been lost. Data tags could provide this missing information. However, it would be expensive in general to generate and maintain such information. Doing so would be worthwhile only if DQI is used and affects the decision made.

This work focuses on how the experience of the decision maker and the available processing time influence the use of DQI in decision making. It also explores other potential issues regarding use of DQI, such as task complexity and demographic characteristics. Our results indicate increasing use of DQI when experience levels progress through the stages from novice to professional. The overall conclusion is that DQI should be made available to managers without domain–specific experience. From this it would follow that DQI should be incorporated into data warehouses used on an ad hoc basis by managers.

Key Words: Data Quality; Information Quality; Data Quality Information (DQI); Decision Making; Data Quality Tags; Data Warehouse; Metadata
History: This paper was received on September 12, 2002.