Verifying data

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. Which check confirms that data was typed in exactly as it appears on the paper source form?

A Validation

B Verification

2. A student enters 250 for a Year 12 student's age and the system rejects it as too high. Which check was this?

A Validation (a range check)

B Verification

3. Two different people type the same survey forms into separate files and the files are compared. What is this called?

A Range checking

B Double entry

4. The source says a mark is 78. You type 87. Validation passes it as a number from 0 to 100. Will verification catch the error?

A Yes, because 87 does not match the source

B No, because 87 is a valid mark

5. Which is an example of visual comparison with the source?

A Reading each entered row alongside the original form to check it matches

B Setting a rule that only allows whole numbers in a column

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1Double entry: two people type the same records, then the two copies are compared		AVerification requires an exact match to the source. Smyth differs from Smith, so the data is not verified.
2Visual comparison: read the entered data against the source document		BA verification method where a person checks each entered value matches the original source exactly
3Verification checks that data matches the source exactly, not that it is sensible		CA verification method where mismatches between the two typed copies show where a data entry error was made
4Validation checks data is reasonable and allowed, but cannot tell if it matches the source		DSource: 45 Entered: 54 -> verification fails
5Age range check passed, so the data has been verified		EAge must be between 0 and 120 -> 54 passes validation
6Source: Smith Entered: Smyth -> data is verified because it is text		FA range check is validation, not verification. It does not confirm the data matches the source.

Definitions

verification

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

=IF(A2_B2,"Match","Re-check")

=_____(A2,B2)

first = "S1043" second = "S1043" print(first __ second)

if entry1 __ entry2: print("Mismatch: check source")

=SUMPRODUCT(--(A2:A9__B2:B9))

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A first = input("Enter ID: ")

B second = input("Again: ")

C if first = second:

D print("Verified")

Question 2

A entry1 = input("Entry 1: ")

B entry2 = input("Entry 2: ")

C if entry1 != entry2:

D print("Entries match")

Question 3

A source = Ava Nguyen

B typed = input("Name: ")

C match = typed == source

D print(match)

Question 4

A source = [12, 45, 78]

B typed = [12, 45, 78]

C if len(source) == len(typed):

D print("Verified")

Question 5

A source = "AB123"

B typed = input("ID: ").lower()

C match = typed == source

D print(match)

Answer Key

Verifying data

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Verification

A — Validation (a range check)

B — Double entry

A — Yes, because 87 does not match the source

A — Reading each entered row alongside the original form to check it matches

Section B: Match the Pairs

Double entry: two people type the same records, then the two copies are compared → A verification method where mismatches between the two typed copies show where a data entry error was made

Visual comparison: read the entered data against the source document → A verification method where a person checks each entered value matches the original source exactly

Verification checks that data matches the source exactly, not that it is sensible → Source: 45 Entered: 54 -> verification fails

Validation checks data is reasonable and allowed, but cannot tell if it matches the source → Age must be between 0 and 120 -> 54 passes validation

Age range check passed, so the data has been verified → A range check is validation, not verification. It does not confirm the data matches the source.

Source: Smith Entered: Smyth -> data is verified because it is text → Verification requires an exact match to the source. Smyth differs from Smith, so the data is not verified.

Section C: Definitions

verification — Checking that data was entered or copied exactly as it appears in the source, such as by double entry or comparing it with the original. It checks accuracy, not reasonableness.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

=IF(A2=B2,"Match","Re-check")

=EXACT(A2,B2)

first = "S1043"
second = "S1043"
print(first == second)

if entry1 != entry2:
    print("Mismatch: check source")

=SUMPRODUCT(--(A2:A9<>B2:B9))

Section E: Spot the Error

C — A single = assigns a value, so it cannot compare the two entries. Double entry needs the comparison operator: if first == second:

D — This branch runs when the two entries are different, so the message must report a mismatch. It should be print("Mismatch").

A — The source text is a string, so it must be in quotes. Without them Python reads Ava and Nguyen as variable names. It should be source = "Ava Nguyen".

C — Comparing only the length does not show that each value was copied exactly. Verification must compare the actual data: if source == typed:

B — Changing the case alters what was typed, so it may no longer match the source exactly. Verification checks an exact copy, so it should be typed = input("ID: ").