| Data Collection | ||
| Before data is input to a computer it needs
to be collected.
There are several methods of doing this:
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| Data Capture Forms. |  |
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| Answers to questions are filled in by people on
specially-prepared forms. These forms are called data
capture forms (questionnaires) and need to be carefully
designed.
These answers will then need to be typed into a computer for analysing. This is called transcribing the data. Example : A membership form for a club may need to be filled in by a pupil wanting to join.
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| Data preparation is
the process of transferring the data into a form which can be processed
by a computer.
Some forms can be read automatically by special machines (OMR, OCR, MICR).... Example : School registers. ...but often the data is typed in...
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Data capture Forms must be designed so they have instructions, are easy to fill in and there should be no doubts as to how to enter data. Eg Format of dates should be specified - dd/mm/yy | |
| This method is liable to errors when the
data is entered into the computer (Transcription
errors).
One method of avoiding transcription errors is verification. The data is entered twice by two different people and the computer will only accept the data if the two versions are identical.
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When data is typed the input screen should be designed to be attractive, easily read and should match the document being copied. | |
| Exercise : Data Collection | ||
| Data may be collected by using specially
designed forms.
The data must then be entered into a computer for processing. This process may be liable to errors. These may be eliminated by using - the data is entered twice and only accepted for processing if the two versions are identical.
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| (Green indicates success) | ||