Data integrity characteristic: timeliness

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Date:

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A hospital's patient record still shows an allergy list from three years ago, even though the patient reported a new allergy last month. Which integrity characteristic is mainly affected?

A Timeliness - the record is out of date

B Authenticity - the record has been forged

2. Which statement best describes timely data?

A Data that is stored in the largest possible database

B Data that is up to date and available when it is needed

3. A shop updates its stock system only once a week, so staff keep selling items that sold out days ago. What is the problem?

A Delayed updates reduce timeliness

B The data is too accurate

4. A bank's fraud alert system receives transaction data 24 hours late. Why does this matter?

A Time-critical decisions, like blocking a card, can no longer be made in time

B It does not matter because the transactions were recorded correctly

5. True or false: data can be accurate but still not timely.

A False - accurate data is always timely

B True - accurate data can still be out of date

Match the Pairs

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

Left column		Right column
1timeliness		AA record that no longer reflects the current situation, so it is not timely
2Out-of-date record		BData is up to date and available when it is needed
3A delayed update means decision makers see old data, which reduces timeliness		CData that was accurate once can still be out of date. Timeliness requires the data to be current when it is used.
4Time-critical decisions need data that is available at the moment of decision		DStock count updated weekly, but sales are made daily
5Timeliness means the data has no spelling or typing errors		EThis describes accuracy or correctness, not timeliness. Timeliness is about data being up to date and available when needed.
6A customer database last updated 3 years ago is still timely because the data was accurate when entered		FLive flight delay data shown to air traffic controllers

Definitions

timeliness

Fill in the Blanks

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

=IF(_____()-B2>7,"Out of date","Current")

daysOld ← TODAY - lastUpdated IF _______ > 7 THEN DISPLAY "Record is out of date"

SELECT * FROM orders ORDER BY orderDate ____;

IF delayHours _ 24 THEN flag ← "Not timely" END IF

SELECT ___(orderDate) FROM orders;

Spot the Error

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

Question 1

A last_update = 20

B age = last_update - 25

C if age > 7:

D print("Out of date")

Question 2

A stock = 40

B sold = 15

C stock = stock - sold

D print("Stock:", stock + sold)

Question 3

A alert_delay = 2

B max_delay = 5

C if alert_delay <= max_delay:

D print("Alert is late")

Question 4

A record_age = "45 days"

B limit = 30

C if record_age > limit:

D print("Out of date")

Question 5

A refresh_hours = 24

B if refresh_hours <= 1

C print("Real-time feed")

D else:

E print("Delayed updates")

Answer Key

Data integrity characteristic: timeliness

Section A: Quick Questions

A — Timeliness - the record is out of date

B — Data that is up to date and available when it is needed

A — Delayed updates reduce timeliness

A — Time-critical decisions, like blocking a card, can no longer be made in time

B — True - accurate data can still be out of date

Section B: Match the Pairs

timeliness → Data is up to date and available when it is needed

Out-of-date record → A record that no longer reflects the current situation, so it is not timely

A delayed update means decision makers see old data, which reduces timeliness → Stock count updated weekly, but sales are made daily

Time-critical decisions need data that is available at the moment of decision → Live flight delay data shown to air traffic controllers

Timeliness means the data has no spelling or typing errors → This describes accuracy or correctness, not timeliness. Timeliness is about data being up to date and available when needed.

A customer database last updated 3 years ago is still timely because the data was accurate when entered → Data that was accurate once can still be out of date. Timeliness requires the data to be current when it is used.

Section C: Definitions

timeliness — Data is timely when it is up to date and available when needed. Out-of-date records or delayed updates can lead to poor time-critical decisions.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

=IF(TODAY()-B2>7,"Out of date","Current")

daysOld ← TODAY - lastUpdated
IF daysOld > 7 THEN
  DISPLAY "Record is out of date"

SELECT * FROM orders ORDER BY orderDate DESC;

IF delayHours > 24 THEN
  flag ← "Not timely"
END IF

SELECT MAX(orderDate) FROM orders;

Section E: Spot the Error

B — The age of a record is the current day minus the day it was last updated. Reversing the subtraction gives a negative age, so stale data would never be flagged. It should be age = 25 - last_update.

D — Adding the sold items back shows the old stock level, not the up-to-date one. Timely data must show the current value, so it should print stock.

D — A delay of 2 is within the limit of 5, so the alert arrived in time for a time-critical decision. The message should say the alert is timely.

A — The age is stored as text, so comparing it with the number limit causes an error. It should be a number: record_age = 45.

B — An if statement needs a colon at the end of the condition line. It should be if refresh_hours <= 1: