3 Evaluating Information Information Systems First Edition John Wiley amp Sons Inc by France Belanger and Craig Van Slyke Contributor Brian West University of Louisiana at Lafayette ID: 224291
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Chapter 3 – Evaluating Information
Information Systems, First Edition John Wiley & Sons, Incby France Belanger and Craig Van SlykeContributor: Brian West, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Learning ObjectivesDiscuss why it is important both personally and professionally to be an informed information consumer
Describe information overload, its consequences and approaches for dealing with information overloadDiscuss the relationship between information overload and information evaluationList and describe the dimensions of information qualityList and describe the elements of an information evaluation frameworkGiven an information-related task, evaluate information for its usefulness and believabilityCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Biased Information in a trusted outlet
Information is often biased, sometimes intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. A particular article was about an output device called a plotter. A plotter is used to produce large-format drawings, such as architectural and engineering plans. The article was very positive about a plotter that used pencils rather than inkjet or laser. Inkjet and laser-like plotters were much faster than pencil plotters and more versatile.The author was the national marketing manager for the only company that manufactured pencil plotters (at that time).
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Focusing QuestionsMaking these decisions based on biased or otherwise low-quality information can lead to serious consequences, such as spending thousands of dollars on an inferior plotter.
Give two examples of instances where you encountered biased information. What made you think the information was biased? What are some of the consequences of relying on biased information? Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Being a smart information consumerBeing successful in today’s knowledge society requires being a good information
consumerThe goal of this chapter is to help you improve your information evaluation skills. ___________________: The systematic determination of the merit and worth of information.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating InformationOne of the great things about the Internet is that there are almost no
“_____________” who determine what can be posted. This means that there is no quality controlIn more traditional media, the responsibility for evaluating the quality and correctness of information was the job of editors and publishers. With the Internet, that responsibility shifts to the information consumer Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating InformationIn business, we often use information to reduce
uncertaintyThe more uncertainty, the more we seek information in order to reduce that uncertainty Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-7Slide8
My online lifeWe all face a daily torrent of information. The more “connected” you are, the more information you face. As you go throughout the next day, pay attention to how you deal with the information you face each
dayWhat strategies do you use to determine what information is important and to reduce the amount of information you deal with?How successful are these strategies? How could you improve your approach to information filtering?Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Information Overload___________________:
Being faced with more information than one can effectively process.The more information we have to sift through, the less attention we have to devote to other tasksIt reduces productivity, increases stress and can actually lead to physical health problems. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-
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Information OverloadManagers know the value of information and gather information for many different
reasonsIn a belief that more information improves decision makingTo justify decisionsTo verify previously-acquired informationTo “play it safe” by making sure they do not miss any relevant informationIn the belief that the information may be useful laterCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Dealing with Information Overload
Two major strategies for dealing with information overload are filtering and withdrawal Withdrawal essentially involves disconnecting from sources of information; not checking email, turning off the television, not surfing the Web and so onFiltering information involves knowing what information we need and what information merits attention and use, which makes knowing how to evaluate information a critical skill in today’s information rich worldCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Dimensions of Information QualityThere are many views on what constitutes “high quality” information. Search the Web to discover different views on the dimensions of information quality
.What, in your opinion, are the three most important dimensions of information quality? Why do you think these are the most important?Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Information QualityGarbage in, garbage out
If you use bad information as the basis for a decision, you are probably going to make a bad decisionDimensions of information quality; the characteristics of information that make it useful or not useful.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-13Slide14
Dimensions of Information Quality
Intrinsic quality includes dimensions of quality that are important regardless of the context or how the information is represented.Contextual quality includes the dimensions that may be viewed differently depending on the task at hand.Representational quality concerns how the information is provided to the user. Accessibility quality has to do with whether authorized users can easily access the information.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Information QualityCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Figure 3.1 Information Quality DimensionsSlide16
Intrinsic Dimension
Intrinsic Dimension
Definition: Extent to which the information is:
Accurate
Believable
Objective
Understandable
Consistent
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Contextual Dimension
Contextual Dimension
Definition: Extent to which the information is:
Relevant
Timely
Complete
Current
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Information QualityThere needs to be emphasis on the importance of considering context when thinking about information quality
.Consider stock price information. It is common for free information services to delay stock price information by fifteen minutes.This is acceptable for a casual investor but devastating for a day traderCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Quality CostsOn the surface, it may seem like we should want the highest quality information
possibleFew individuals or organizations are willing to invest the resources necessary to ensure the highest possible information quality. We want information that is of sufficient quality to carry out tasks effectively. In other words, we want “good enough” information quality. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating information sources You are thinking about investing in real estate. While doing some initial research you obtained the following sources of
informationA 2004 book on investing in residential real estateA local real estate brokerA database of historical sales prices from your local tax collectorRank these three sources based on how willing you would be to rely on the information from the source. Briefly justify your rankings.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating InformationNow that you understand a bit about information quality, the question of how to evaluate information comes into
playIs the information useful? Is the information believable?Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-21Slide22
Evaluating UsefulnessIf the information is not useful, then there is no need to assess its believability.
To determine whether information is useful, evaluate whether the information is relevant, appropriate and sufficiently current.Each of these is a “____________” assessment.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-
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Evaluating RelevanceInformation relevance is the degree to which the information is pertinent to the task at hand.
Will this information help me accomplish my task? There are varying degrees of relevanceWith experience you will be able to determine what degree of relevance merits further evaluationContext-dependentCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating AppropriatenessIs the information suitable for your purpose?
You will need to assess the level of detail and the depth of the information in light of your information needs. If you are researching a new technology when preparing a report for your manager, the information contained in a high school student’s report may not be appropriate for your useContext-dependentCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating CurrencyHow current you need the information to
be?If you are seeking information related to rapidly evolving topics, such as information technology, you may need information that is very up-to-dateDetermining the currency of Web-based information is often difficultCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-
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Evaluating CredibilityEvaluating the credibility of an information source can be tricky in many cases and relatively straightforward in
othersMore formal publications, such as peer-reviewed journals, often include short author biographiesIf the author has written widely on the topic in reputable sources, s/he probably has sufficient expertise to merit using the informationCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating ObjectivityFirst consider the source of the
informationUsing factual information from Dell’s Website is fine, but relying on Dell to provide an unbiased comparison of their computers to Hewlett-Packard’s is a bad ideaLanguage that is more fact-based and neutral is more likely to be objectiveCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating SupportClaims without support should not be
trustedWhen support is offered, you should evaluate the quality of the supportConsider the reasonableness of the claimThe claim should be testableThis does not mean that you have to actually test the claim, but if you can see no reasonable way to test the claim be reluctant to rely on the information.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Evaluating ComprehensivenessAssessing comprehensiveness requires assessing the depth and breadth of the information
.Breadth concerns whether all aspects of a topic are covered while depth concerns the level of detail provided.Look for obvious gaps in information.Throughout your evaluation, keep in mind the context of your particular taskCopyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-
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SummaryBeing able to evaluate information is a key element of information literacy, which is an important skill for both our professional and personal lives.
Career and personal success depends, in part, on the outcomes of the decisions we make. Our ability to evaluate the information we use to make these decisions affects the quality of our decisions. Information overload occurs when we are faced with more information than we can effectively process.Increasing our information evaluation skills helps us deal with information overload by reducing the amount of attention and time we devote to low-quality or non-useful information.Intrinsic dimensions of information quality include accuracy, believability, objectivity and consistency.
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SummaryContextual dimensions of information quality include relevance, timeliness, completeness and currency.
Evaluating information concerns determining whether the information is useful and believable.Useful information is relevant, appropriate and sufficiently current for the task at hand.Believable information is credible, objective, well-supported and comprehensive.Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.3-
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