Jon WesterhausEnglish playwright Tom Stoppard captured the importance of electoral accuracy when he said: “It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.” Accuracy in data collection is a somewhat relative term. It varies in actual results and costs, depending on the collection processes and the collector’s commitment to detail.

I like to use golf as a way of describing how accuracy claims can differ: Accuracy for one person might mean hitting the ball dead center in the fairway. For another, accuracy could mean just keeping the ball in play by not hitting it out of bounds. Both accuracy claims are true according to each person’s standards. It all depends on each golfer’s expectations.

Of course, accuracy is no game when it comes to the outcome of an election, survey or any data collection project. Proper data collection is paramount to ensuring confidence in your process and the final results of your project. The key is having the data collection options that enable you to strike the right balance between outcomes and costs. If you’d like us to analyze your accuracy rate, call me and I would be happy to have an SBS statistician help you.

 

Process

Accuracy

Cost

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)

97 - 98%

$

Single Key

99.90%

$

Optical Mark Read (OMR)1

99.90%

$

Key & Verify

99.95%

$$

Triple Key / Triple Compare2

99.999%

$$$$

SBS OMR Scan & Verify3

99.90%

$$

SBS Image Scanning3

99.97%

$$$

SBS Web Data Collection3

100%

$$

The process of data capture can range from key-entry to electronic via the Web. 
This chart provides a quick guide to standard data collection processes.


  Phone: 952-974-2310
  E-mail: jwesterhaus@surveyandballotsystems.com

Sources:
1Pearson NCS; OMR scanner manufacturer
2AEL data conversion table
3Based on audits conducted from 7/2005 to 1/2006
 

M.D. Agrawal and others on the Computer Society of India nominations committee weren't sure how members would react to using SBS' online voting for the Society's National Body Election. The feedback was very good, indeed. Members commented on the excellent design. One member, in particular, appreciated being able to vote while vacationing in Jaipur. The result according to Argawal: " A highly satisfying experience."

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