Modeling completeness versus consistency tradeoffs in information decision contexts

Abstract

Decision makers often confront the issue of whether to utilize information based on incomplete but consistent data or instead rely on complete but less consistent data. For a given decision context, this paper introduces a framework that permits the systematic exploration of this tradeoff between the completeness and consistency of data. The relative weight (importance) of completeness and consistency to the decision maker is an integral component of the approach. To examine the tradeoff, the paper explores in detail various facets of these data quality dimensions. These, in turn, lead to expressions for the measurement of completeness and consistency. The utility of various combinations of completeness and consistency for fixed and variable budgets provides guidance as to the appropriate tradeoff of these factors for specific decision contexts.