What is most important in a test is not that the numbers are added properly and the best number chosen, but rather that the best data for your company is purchased.
Your Data Future
Whether you are a current customer of a data provider or have never purchased data before, the principles and procedures are the same. If you are currently buying data from a provider and have not extensively tested it, perhaps now is a good time to do so. You might find that data from another company may be more appropriate for your needs. If you are new to data purchasing begin by starting off on the right foot.
Because of changing needs and other factors, companies may wish to run these tests annually. Having more information is always better than not having enough. And unless you are enhancing only a small amount of data, the costs for testing are not prohibitive.
Where To Go From Here
The next question that arises then is "Where do I go from here?" Fortunately this is the easy part. Contact data providers who have the data for sale that meets your needs and ask them how to run a test file. Next, contact a survey company to test the accuracy of the enhanced data.
SBS has trained data consultants with experience in data testing and who will be happy to help you determine your data needs, create a test file and find outside companies for data verification and analysis.
Why is SBS interested in encouraging these tests? Because we run them ourselves to ensure that our data continues to meet the most stringent needs and offers the highest level of accuracy ?and it does.
Feel free to contact an 5zip data representative for more information or to start your own test. One of our consultants will call and arrange a meeting to discuss your data needs and design the right test for you.
Note: When you call, be sure to mention that you would like more information about data testing to ensure the right data consultants are notified. We look forward to helping you find the right data at the right time, when you need it!
Contacting SBS
Information and contacts may be obtained between the working hours of 8:00 am and 5:00 pm, Central Time. Phone: 888-459-DATA (3282)
Copyright, ?999 SBS Corporation
1. A record is a group of related fields that store data about a subject. A collection of records makes up a file. One file may have many records.
2. An element is a unit of data, such as NAME, ADDRESS or CITY, and resides within a record. One record may have many elements.
3. A data dictionary is a list of all the elements that may be contained within a grouping, or data set, and distributed as a file. The dictionary contains information about each element, the relationships between the elements, and sometimes the origin and expected use of the elements.
4. Modeling is the process of creating an algorithm or system that uses current data to predict or impute missing data within the current or related data set.
5. Lists are subsets of data that are selected from a data file. The selection process usually involves selection parameters that pertain to the use of the list such as "I want all people in Texas who are over 40, married and have an income of $50,000 or more." The selection of this grouping of people is called list processing.
6. Segmentation is the process of using a set of selection criteria to break records up into logical groups. Segmentation is necessary to precisely target a defined market with advertising or direct mail. For example, a file could be segmented by income range.
7. Scoring is the process of using a set of elements to apply a ranking to a group of individuals. Usually scores are normalized to a number range, such as 0 to 100. A person who meets all of the specific cri-teria will get a 100, a person who meets none of the criteria receives a 0. A math system is devised to apply values between 0 and 100 for each record in the grouping.
