DATA HANDLING PROJECT
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COMPUTER
EXPERIENCE
OF PUPILS
ENTERING
YEAR 7

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GCSE ICT

 

CHECKING FOR ERRORS

The complete database for the whole year group has already been typed in for you and saved as a file called Y7dbase. The next step is to make sure that all the data has been correctly entered into the computer before you start to process it, analyse it and make conclusions from it.

  1. Open the file called Y7dbase by clicking on the following link; choose to "Open it" or "Run it" when asked: (this may not work if your data handling program is already open)
Y7dbase.xls FlexiData HelpsheetExcel
helpsheet
  1. Edit the data file and then sort the records into numerical order of Record Number.
  2. How many records are there? Does this match the highest record number entered in the data? Look through the sorted database for a duplicated record number and delete this record completely from the database.
  3. Save the corrected data.
  4. Using the filter in Excell
    Track down the following kinds of possible errors. Tip: there are three answers for each (so you will know when you have got them right).
  • In field Q3, some out-of-range numbers (higher than 4) have been entered.
  • In field Q5, the letter O has sometimes been typed (instead of the number Ø, zero).
  • In field Q4, some entries have been left empty (no value at all).
  1. Print each page, label them 3 - Validation Checks and write on each one to describe exactly what it is showing.
  2. Edit the data to correct all of the errors shown in your printout. Find each record with an error (you now know the record number) and correct it as follows -
  • In field Q3, delete back to the first digit only (can you see why the mistake was made?)
  • In field Q5, delete the letter O or o and enter the value Ø (zero).
  • In field Q4, enter the value Ø (zero) rather than leaving an empty space.
  1. Save your corrected database.
  2. Many of these errors could have been prevented when the data was entered into the database. Find out how this could be done. Describe what you could have done by writing on your printout.

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