Improving the quality of manually acquired data: Applying the theory of planned behaviour to data quality
The continued reliance of manual data capture in engineering asset intensive organisations highlights
the critical role played by those responsible for recording raw data. The potential for data quality
variance across individual operators also exposes the need to better manage this particular group. This
paper evaluates the relative importance of the human factors associated with data quality. Using the
theory of planned behaviour this paper considers the impact of attitudes, perceptions and behavioural
intentions on the data collection process in an engineering asset context. Two additional variables are
included, those of time pressure and operator feedback. Time pressure is argued to act as a moderator
between intention and data collection behaviour, while perceived behavioural control will moderate the
relationship between feedback and data collection behaviour. Overall the paper argues that the
presence of best practice procedures or threats of disciplinary sanction are insufficient controls to
determine data quality. Instead those concerned with improving the data collection performance of
operators should consider the operator’s perceptions of group attitude towards data quality, the level
of feedback provided to data collectors and the impact of time pressures on procedure compliance. A
range of practical recommendations are provided to those wishing to improve the quality of their
manually acquired data.