A/S ICT IT Value and Importance of Information

Specimen Paper Q2 2. (a) There are financial costs involved in getting good quality information. State two other costs and, giving a different example for each one, show how these costs arise.[4] 2. (b) Give an example of a problem that could arise if information is not (i)up to date; [1] (i)up to date; [1] (ii)complete; [1] (ii)complete; [1] (iii)accurate. [1] (iii)accurate. [1] Use distinctly different examples in each case.

Specimen Paper Q2 marks a. (Up to two marks for costs and up to two marks for examples) Two other costs, e.g.: Two other costs, e.g.: time (1) human resources (1) Appropriate examples, e.g. the time consuming nature (1) the specialist staff requirements (1) or the specialist staff requirements (1) or the time to re-train (1) the time to re-train (1) b. Three appropriate examples (one mark for each) (up to date) e.g. letters sent to deceased people causing great heartache(1) (up to date) e.g. letters sent to deceased people causing great heartache(1) (complete) e.g. an address on a letter without a postcode will delay delivery (1) (complete) e.g. an address on a letter without a postcode will delay delivery (1) an incomplete order resulting in non delivery of some items an incomplete order resulting in non delivery of some items (accurate) e.g. receiving a domestic gas or electricity bill for thousands of (accurate) e.g. receiving a domestic gas or electricity bill for thousands of pounds because a meter has been mis-read (1) pounds because a meter has been mis-read (1) the wrong phone number being copied down in a conversation the wrong phone number being copied down in a conversation could make it impossible to contact a person or company (1) could make it impossible to contact a person or company (1)

Jan 2008 Q2 2. (a) A company improved its performance by having up-to-date, accurate and complete information. Describe two ways in which such information has added value to the company. Illustrate your answers with suitable differing examples. [2 × 2] 2(b) Other than data collection, describe two of the costs in terms of money, time and human resources in obtaining good quality information. Use a suitable different example to illustrate your answer in each case. [4]

Jan 2008 Q2a answer (a) Any 2 with suitable example 2 x 2 Aids decision making Decision-making is based on information that is available at the time and if this is either out-of-date or incomplete then this can have a bad effect on the organisation or company Example : Company is making so much money in Area A that it is worth building another store Monitoring progress Information obtained by market research (e.g. people in the street stopping certain passers-by, questionnaires sent to a sample of homes) and sales figures can help to achieve this. Example : Supermarkets check on the speed and accuracy of till assistants and can then decide whether to reward or reprimand. Targeting of resources to gain a competitive advantage Buy more of a certain commodity because sales are good. Advertising and marketing a product should be aimed at people likely to buy it otherwise it is a waste of time and money. Information can tell an organisation how well it is doing compared to its competitors. For example information can identify gaps in a particular market which can then, on the basis of sound information be filled. Example: Company decides to spend more money on advertising in Area B because sales are sluggish and aware that their rival is getting complacent. Or similar examples

Jan 2008 Q2b answer (b) Two of the following with appropriate examples 2 x (1 + 1) Data entry Example : New staff have to be employed to type in the results of the data collection. Training needs for the staff to enter the data into the system. Processing Example: New software and hardware has to be written/purchased to allow the results to be obtained before the data gets out of date. Maintenance / Updating Staff have to be employed to keep the hardware running and to modify the software when legislation changes or bugs are found. Condone analysis of the data

June 2007 Q2 2. (a) Discuss how “up to date, accurate and complete” information can add value to an organisation. [3] 2(b) Getting good quality information costs money, time and human resources. Describe with suitable distinct examples how such costs could arise. [3]

June 2007 Q2 Marks (a) Aids decision making (e.g. identify gaps in the market) [1] monitoring progress [1] targeting of resources [1] (b) Any three from the following costs: data collection (direct and indirect) expert to design form, setting up questionnaires to collect information, doing interviews (travelling etc), going through documents to find information, buying information from another company. [1] data entry employing people to type in the data, time to type [1] processing and maintenance technician to run computer, repair equipment, refill paper, buying software, data maintenance etc. [1]

June 2007 Q2 Examiner’s Report (a) The majority of candidates were only able to pick up one mark here. It seemed that they had studied last year’s paper and ignored the fact that this question was asked a different way round. (b) Most candidates could give one or two examples but then tended to duplicate their answers rather than give distinct examples.

Example Question 4. Good quality information is up to date, relevant and correctly targeted. (a) Describe two methods of keeping data up to date. [2] Best answer: Getting people once a month to check their records online and make the changes needed. Sending out forms to all customers on a quarterly basis and then using this information to keep the records up to date. rom Inset Mar 2008 – for poor answers see notes area below slide from Inset Mar 2008 – for poor answers see notes area below slide

Example Question (c) Describe two advantages of keeping data up to date, relevant and correctly targeted.[2] Good answer: They can spot trends in sales and plan future production better or make better buying decisions. They can see how each of their salesman are performing and decide whether they need to warn / retrain sales people / or give others a bonus. rom Inset Mar 2008 – for poor answers see notes area below slide from Inset Mar 2008 – for poor answers see notes area below slide

Jan 2006 Q2a 2. (a) There are financial costs involved in getting good quality information. State two other costs and, giving a different example for each one, show how these costs arise. [4]

Jan 2006 Q2a Marks (a) Two other costs, such as: time (1) human resources (1) Appropriate example, such as: the time consuming nature (1) and the specialist staff requirements (1) Accept also, time to re-train (could come under time or HR issues)

Jan 2006 Q2b 2. (b) Give an example of a problem that could arise if information is not: (i) up to date; [1] (ii) complete; [1] (iii) accurate. [1] Use distinctly different examples in each case.

Jan 2006 Q2b WJEC example answer (b) Three appropriate examples (one for each) such as: (up to date) letters sent to deceased people causing great heartache (1) (complete) an address on a letter without a postcode will delay delivery (1) an incomplete order resulting in non delivery of some items (accurate) receiving a domestic gas or electricity bill for thousands of pounds because a meter has been mis-read (1) the wrong phone number being copied down in a conversation could make it impossible to contact a person or company (1)