Why Data is Inaccurate

Have you ever tried to gather data about the social media standing of an organization? If you have, did your results come back useful or were they just a waste of your time? According to “Measure What Matters” by Katie Delahaye Paine there are four common reasons why we gather bad data.

Reason #1 Incomplete Assessment of Variables

According to Paine this is the biggest mistake people make when trying to analyze their organization. We automatically think we know the reason why something is not working when that just is not the case, it is important to look at every element going into the results and find the true cause of the problem. It might not even be a result of something the organization itself is doing, it could be the results of competition. In order to get a true picture it is important to look at what is happening at every angle.

Reason #2 Relevancy of Content

Anymore most data gathering comes from a computer, not from people working inside the organization. While this is convenient it also opens up the problem of irrelevant data. Computer programs will pull content based on codes, it does not know what you are actually looking for. This can cause up to 90 percent of what you get to be irrelevant which is a waste of time. It is important to keep some human interaction in data gathering in order to make sure you are getting what you actually need.

Reason #3 Commercial Services Omit Results

Just like the issue of relevancy, computer programs also have a problem with not including some results. This could include missed tweets, Facebook threads and more. It is much easier and beneficial to do your own Google search instead of paying a company to do your research for you.

Reason #4 The (In)accuracy of Content Analysis

It is very easy to use a computer program to analyze content, but the problem again is the inaccuracy that this can cause. Most systems only get the results right about half the time and they are not human so they cannot show what people actually think. They do not understand the tone of what people post, a sarcastic or funny comment could be taken seriously and lead to complete inaccuracy. It is best to involve real people in analysis as much as possible.