Introduction
The information is the cornerstone of any research, and its quality determines the value of the assumptions made. The researcher should use information that is relevant, timely, accurate, cost-effective, reliable, useful, and exhaustive in order to create an inquiry. All the key characteristics of the information listed are critical for high-quality research. Additionally, they should be applied together to make the data valuable and meaningful. Researchers should pay special attention to testing those characteristics before using the information in their research.
Relevance and Timeliness
The first characteristic of good information is relevance, which refers to the importance of a particular piece of data for a particular problem. The information should contain answers to set questions and offer solutions to the research issues considered (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). In order to evaluate the relevance of information, it is important to understand the purpose of the inquiry. Additionally, it is essential to get rid of any bias that the researcher or methodology may have. Timeliness is one of the most important characteristics of information in the modern world. This aspect determines how relevant and new the data on a particular problem is (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). Modern research allows new discoveries to be made regularly, which leads to constant data updates. The information received can significantly change the idea of the subject being considered. Thus, the information should be up to date to avoid using outdated and incorrect data.
Accuracy and Cost-Effectiveness
Accuracy is another critical characteristic of the information, which is especially important for scientific research. This aspect refers to the correctness and truthfulness of every piece of data (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). Accuracy may affect the results of the research, so it is important to use correct data in all the research activities. The data used should be based on correct inputs and assumptions in order to reflect the real situation. Cost-effectiveness is the most important for economic and business research. This aspect refers to the cost benefits that the information can bring in comparison to the expenses it requires (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). This characteristic can be often evaluated only in the long term, so requires proper planning and estimations.
Conclusion
Reliability makes information unbiased and authoritative, which is necessary for high-quality research. This aspect determines the expertise of the author, the degree of completeness of the data, the reliability of the research method, and the absence of bias (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). Usability of the information refers to the value of data in the framework of the research (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). In particular, this aspect determines to what extent the information can be generalized and to what extent the data contained in it can be applied to the problem under consideration. The exhaustiveness of information defines the completeness of the data and the detail of the data contained in it (Vom Brocke et al., 2020). In particular, the data should not be fragmented or selected, it should cover all the relevant aspects of the topic.
References
Vom Brocke, J., Maedche, A,, & Hevner, A. (2020). Design Science Research. Cases. Springer International Publishing.