-- Information Quality --
(Measures of Information System Output)

Measures of Information Quality focus on the output produced by a system and the value, usefulness or relative importance attributed to it by the user. Most of the measures, therefore, are perceptual in nature. Bailey and Pearson¹ identified nine characteristics of information quality including: accuracy, precision, currency, output timeliness, reliability, completeness, conciseness, format and relevance and this began a stream of research in user satisfaction. Other researchers have added criteria such as understandability², report usefulness³, sufficiency, freedom from bias, comparability and quantitativeness⁴.

During research on executive information systems, Rainer and Watson⁵ defined five characteristics of information quality: accuracy, timeliness, conciseness, convenience, relevance. Seddon⁶ also included accuracy, timeliness, and relevance in his definition of information quality. However, he added the caveat that since not all IT applications produce information for decision-making, information quality is not a measurement factor that may be considered in all systems.

We made several minor modifications to the definition of information quality when creating this website. First, we are use the terms "accuracy" and "data quality" synonomously.  Secondly, we include a category called content, which we consider to defitionally be broader than relevance, and includes such topics as data warehousing.

Select a topic from the drop-down list below to see research pertaining to each of these areas:

Select a linkContentData QualityRelevanceTimeliness

1 Bailey, James E. and Sammy W. Pearson, "Development of a Tool for Measuring and Analyzing Computer User Satisfaction," Management Science, Vol. 29, No. 5, May 1983, pp. 530-545.
2 Srinivasan, Ananth, "Alternative Measures of System Effectiveness: Associations and Implications," MIS Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 3, September 1985, pp. 243-253.
3 Mahmood, Mo A. and Jeanette N. Medewitz, "Impact of Design Methods on Decision Support System Success: An Empirical Assessment," Information & Management, Vol. 9, No. 3, October 1985, pp. 137-151.
4 King, William R. and Barry J. Epstein, "Assessing Information System Value," Decision Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 1, January 1983, pp. 34-45.
5 Rainer Jr., R. Kelly; Watson, Hugh J., "The Keys to Executive Information Systems Success," Journal of Management Information Systems, Fall 1995, Vol. 12, Issue 2, pp. 83-98
6 Seddon, Peter B., "A Respecification and Extension of the DeLone and McLean Model of IS Success," Information Systems Research, Vol. 8, No. 3, September 1997, pp. 240-253.