Chapter 3 Evaluating Information Information Systems for Business: An Experiential Approach Second Edition France Bélanger, Craig Van Slyke, Robert E. Crossler Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Practice: Focusing Story (p. 36) Give two examples of instances where you encountered biased information. What made you think the information was biased? What are some of the consequences of relying on biased information? Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Practice: Learning Activity 3.1 (p. 36) Develop a list of characteristics of “good” information. How can this list be used to evaluate information? Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Evaluation The systematic determination of the merit and worth of information. In traditional media, editors and publishers evaluate the quality and correctness of information. On the Internet, there are few “gatekeepers” who decide what can be posted (and provide quality control). Therefore, the information consumer must perform this evaluation Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Practice: Learning Activity 3.2 (p. 39) We all face a daily torrent of information. The more “connected” you are, the more information you face. Think about yesterday and how you dealt with the information you faced. What strategies do you use to determine what information is important and to reduce the amount of information you deal with? How successful are these strategies? How could you improve your approach to information filtering? Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Overload Being faced with more information than one can effectively process. The more information we have to sift through, the less attention we have to devote to other tasks. It reduces productivity, increases stress, and can lead to physical health problems. Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Managers Value Information… To improve decision making To justify decisions To verify previously-acquired information To “play it safe” by making sure they do not miss any relevant information In the belief that the information may be useful later Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Dealing with Information Overload Withdrawal: disconnecting from sources of information (e.g., not checking email, turning off the TV, not surfing the Web) Filtering: knowing what information we need and what information merits attention and use Requires knowing how to evaluate information, a critical skill in today’s information rich world Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Quality Bad information can lead to bad decisions  “Garbage in, garbage out” Dimensions of information quality Intrinsic quality: important dimensions of quality regardless of the context or how the information is represented. Contextual quality: dimensions that may be viewed differently depending on the task at hand. Representational quality: how the information is provided to the user. Accessibility quality: whether authorized users can easily access the information. Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Quality Dimensions Intrinsic Accurate Believable Objective Consistent Understandable Contextual Relevant Timely Complete Current Figure 3.1 Information Quality Dimensions Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Quality Intrinsic Dimension TABLE 3.1 Information Quality Dimension Definitions Intrinsic Dimension Definition: Extent to which the information is: Accurate Correct, free from error and reliable Believable Regarded as true and credible Objective Free from bias Understandable Easily comprehended Consistent Compatible with previous information Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Quality Contextual Dimension TABLE 3.1 Information Quality Dimension Definitions (Cont.) Contextual Dimension  Definition: Extent to which the information is…: Relevant Applicable and useful for the task at hand Timely Available in time to perform the task at hand Complete Of sufficient depth and breadth for the task at hand Current Sufficiently up-to-date for the task at hand Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Information Quality vs. Costs Context of information quality matters For example, stock price information is often delayed for free information services; this is acceptable to casual investors but devastating for a day trader High quality information, however, is costly The goal is information that is of sufficient quality to carry out tasks effectively. Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Practice: Learning Activity 3.4 (p. 45) You are thinking about investing in real estate. While doing some initial research you obtained the following sources of information: A 2004 book on investing in residential real estate A local real estate broker A database of historical sales prices from your local tax collector Rank these three sources based on how willing you would be to rely on the information from the source. Briefly justify your rankings. Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Evaluating Information Is the information useful? Is the information believable? Useful? Relevant Appropriate Current Believable? Credible Objective Supported Comprehensive FIGURE 3.2 Information Evaluation Framework Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Evaluating Usefulness of Information Relevance: degree to which the information is pertinent to the task at hand. There are varying degrees of relevance, which are context-dependent Appropriateness: degree to which the information is suitable for your purpose. Needs an assessment of the level of detail and depth of information needed; which are context-dependent Currency: degree to which the information is up-to-date. Requires deciding how current the information needs to be Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Evaluating Information Believability Credibility: whether the source of information can be trusted. Formal publications, widely published authors, tend to have more credibility Objectivity: whether the source of information appears unbiased. Language that is more fact-based and neutral is more likely to be objective Supported claim: whether the information provided is supported and whether this support is of good quality. Involves looking at the reasonableness of the claim and whether it is testable Comprehensiveness: depth and breadth of the information. Breadth: whether all aspects of a topic are covered Depth: the level of detail provided. Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

Reflection How do you think information evaluation skills will be helpful in your future career? Describe a situation where, looking back on it, you spent more time gathering information than you should have. How do you know when you’ve gathered enough information? Why is information quality an ethical issue? How do you decide how much effort to put into information quality/evaluation? Why is context important to information quality and evaluation? Bélanger, Van Slyke, Crossler © Prospect Press 2016

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