Information Quality Surveys Seen from the Perspective of Operations

This is a discussion of three blinded cases of eliciting responses on information quality for statistical analysis that yielded mixed, inconclusive, sometime contradictory results. Surveys asked questions without the necessary context and neglected interdependencies of factors. Information quality is a subset of quality problems with operation factors. A broader approach is needed. This paper suggests improvements from the teleological perspective of operations. A preparatory qualitative study of the domain, how it works, and how interdependent the factors are might yield better survey instruments with well-thought out questions asked within their adequate context and complemented with some checks and balances. We need distinguish whether we seek truth about reality or truth about what respondents think. In operations, reality and results matter. This study calls for challenge, critique, and discussion by researchers using surveys.