What are the five characteristics of good data?
There are five traits that you'll find within data quality: accuracy, completeness, reliability, relevance, and timeliness – read on to learn more. Is the information correct in every detail? How comprehensive is the information? Does the information contradict other trusted resources?
Information is only valuable if it is of high quality. How can you assess your data quality? Data quality meets six dimensions: accuracy, completeness, consistency, timeliness, validity, and uniqueness. Read on to learn the definitions of these data quality dimensions.
In basic terms, high quality data should be accurate, timely, complete and actionable – meaning it can be put into use or used to make decisions. To ensure these characteristics are met, it must be relevant and contain the right amount of information for the task at hand.
Data quality requirements are traditionally defined as accuracy, completeness, consistency, currency, precision, privacy, reasonableness, integrity, timeliness, uniqueness and validity.
- 1 Are you out of data?
- 2 Do you have enough evidence to make a decision?
- 3 Can you place your results in any larger context?
- 4 Are you out of time?
Five framing guidelines help us think about building data products. We call them the five Cs: consent, clarity, consistency, control (and transparency), and consequences (and harm). They're a framework for implementing the golden rule for data. Let's look at them one at a time.
The 5th Dimension in Physics & Theory
This is called the Kaluza-Klein Theory. In this theory, the 5th dimension is curved so tightly that it's smaller than an atom. It's too small to be seen or to interact with massive objects, but can influence subatomic particles and generate electromagnetic fields.
The five characteristics for high-quality information include accurate, complete, consistent, timely, and unique.
Data quality measures the condition of data, relying on factors such as how useful it is to the specific purpose, completeness, accuracy, timeliness (e.g., is it up to date?), consistency, validity, and uniqueness.
There are three general characteristics of Data Sets namely: Dimensionality, Sparsity, and Resolution.
What makes a good data definition?
Clear – A data definition should be precise, concise, and unambiguous. The definition should be clear enough to allow only one possible interpretation. Singular - The data definition should be expressed in the singular. Positive - The definition should be expressed as what it is, limit any emphasis on what it is not.
- Accuracy and Precision.
- Legitimacy and Validity.
- Reliability and Consistency.
- Timeliness and Relevance.
- Completeness and Comprehensiveness.
- Availability and Accessibility.
- Granularity and Uniqueness.

Good Enough Data Quality Means Reproducibility with Acceptable Risk. Well-formed requirements need reproducible good Data Quality to assure results meet acceptable risk.
Three characteristics define Big Data: volume, variety, and velocity. Together, these characteristics define “Big Data”.
Data that is deemed fit for its intended purpose is considered high quality data. Examples of data quality issues include duplicated data, incomplete data, inconsistent data, incorrect data, poorly defined data, poorly organized data, and poor data security.
Data quality standards ensure that companies are making data-driven decisions to meet their business goals. If data issues, such as duplicate data, missing values, outliers, aren't properly addressed, businesses increase their risk for negative business outcomes.
Data quality dimensions are measurement attributes of data, which you can individually assess, interpret, and improve. The aggregated scores of multiple dimensions represent data quality in your specific context and indicate the fitness of data for use.
Garvin proposes eight critical dimensions or categories of quality that can serve as a framework for strategic analysis: Performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, aesthetics, and perceived quality.
Based on these models (see Models), the Consortium for IT Software Quality (CISQ) has defined five major desirable structural characteristics needed for a piece of software to provide business value: Reliability, Efficiency, Security, Maintainability and (adequate) Size.
What is data quality? Data quality measures how well a dataset meets criteria for accuracy, completeness, validity, consistency, uniqueness, timeliness, and fitness for purpose, and it is critical to all data governance initiatives within an organization.
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