From the course: Excel: Managing and Analyzing Data

Unlock this course with a free trial

Join today to access over 24,400 courses taught by industry experts.

Deciding if your data is ready for use

Deciding if your data is ready for use - Microsoft Excel Tutorial

From the course: Excel: Managing and Analyzing Data

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

Deciding if your data is ready for use

“

- Data is never 100% clean. Even if you clean it today, the world changes, meaning that your data is alive because people move, businesses close, and perfect data does not stay perfect. And as analysts, we have to accept that reality. So we don't ask, "Is the data perfect?" We constantly struggle with the question, "Is the data good enough?" And to answer that, we need to get clear about three things. First, what are you trying to accomplish? Are we sending out a $1 coupon to former customers, or are we alerting people to changes in their professional licensing? Second, what's at stake if the data is wrong? In the first case, some people might get several $1 coupons, and some might not get any. That's not so bad. What is bad is if somebody doesn't get timely notice about licensing changes, they could eventually face fines and revocations. Third, how much effort is required to clean the data? Sometimes, fixing the data is harder than dealing with the consequences and repercussions. And…

Contents