DQC Unveils Single Metric for Data Trustworthiness

In Salt Lake City, Data Quality Co-op (DQC) has launched a new metric called the Data Trust Score, which combines observed behavior from across the data ecosystem to provide a single metric indicating the trustworthiness of each individual's data.

Officially launched nine months ago, DQC is an independent company offering continuous quality measurement and real-time quality certification, by aggregating, analyzing and benchmarking data quality signals - helping researchers and research buyers to clean data and improve quality workflows.

The new Score combines fraud signals, in-survey behavior and participation history to produce the single metric, allowing users to quickly assess respondent trustworthiness and reduce the risk of poor quality data. Scores range from 0 to 1,000, with higher scores indicating more trusted data, and are calculated using three primary inputs: technical fraud indicators, including whether a respondent's device has been flagged as fraudulent; in-survey behavior, including suspicious actions such as illogical survey responses, task speeding or unsatisfactory open-end text responses; and survey participation history, including frequency, outcomes and timing.

The new metric is available through the DQC Quality Tool and via API, and it can be viewed alongside device-level metrics, supplier benchmarks and trend reports in the DQC dashboard. The Score will be rolled out to existing DQC clients starting this month, with broader availability later in the year.

Simon Chadwick, Managing Partner at MR advisory firm Cambiar Consulting, says data quality has traditionally consisted of a series of disconnected checks: the new metric establishes a common framework which 'helps the market both manage quality operationally and communicate it credibly to decision-makers.' DQC Chief Executive Bob Fawson (pictured) comments: 'It has become very hard to tell the difference between synthetic and human respondents, and between thoughtful people and disengaged survey takers. The Data Trust Score gives the industry a common, transparent way to quantify trust in the data that underpins business decisions and drives hundreds of millions of dollars in investment decisions every year.'

DQC appends a built-in recommendation and participant persona to each record, alongside the score, allowing teams to 'actively manage quality upstream and clearly communicate it downstream,' according to Fawson. He concludes: 'That combination helps researchers, suppliers and procurement teams align on expectations, demonstrate rigor and get real credit for investing in better data. Bringing all the quality signals together in one metric also makes it easy to explain to stakeholders.'

The firm is online at www.dataqualityco-op.com .


Photo stolen from Greenbook - thanks Greenbook

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.