Consumer data is compiled from a variety of sources including surveys, phone books, and other self-reported marketing information. The compiled data contains all measurements of human characteristics including traits, interests, attitudes, and purchase behavior. But because of the sources of these demographics and lifestyle indicators, there is some inherent level of inaccuracy. The reasons for this are attributable to anything from misspellings to deliberate statements of misinformation.
Consumers often misunderstand survey questions, fill in the wrong blank by accident, or even check off boxes to make a happy face on the form. There is no way to circumvent these inaccuracies or correct for them in a systematic fashion. However, much of the data is quite accurate and will fully meet your needs; you simply need to know what you need from your data and which data provider provides it.
Be aware that there are a few data inaccuracies that may never be overcome, although great strides are being made in the technology behind data compilation. Among these "data holes〃 are incompleteness, inaccuracy and mismatched data. Some of these errors are the result of programming mismatches, but most are related to the actual sources that contribute data to the data provider. There is no such thing as perfect data, only levels of accuracy.