Data-gathering tools

Facts are the fuel an investigation needs to reach a successful conclusion. This chapter addresses the practical considerations of data-gathering activities. It describes types of data, sources of data, data-gathering tools, and techniques. 

Different tools are required for each item. Items 1 and 2 require the customer s input (voice of the customer). The tools include data-gathering tools, like focus groups and surveys, and statistical analysis tools, like conjoint and regression analysis. Measurements may have to be developed requiring the use of gage studies. 

Raw data gathered from seismic surveys must be processed to compensate for and to remove a variety of distortions unwanted noises created by weathered near-surface rocks, normal time delays, and echoing by rebounding acoustic waves—to provide the clearest possible image of the strata below. Computers can restore these distortions in a fraction of the time that was formerly required to adjust the data painstakingly by hand. Advanced techniques not only permit presentations in three dimensions, but also in color, and to create contour maps and models of subterranean features. However, even with the use of sophisticated tools, there remains a large measure of uncertainty. History has shown repeatedly that a prospective area rejected by one petroleum firm has been accepted by another and proved to be successful. 

Molecular modelling is not strictly an analytical tool that can be used directly. It is, however, a valuable way of visualizing supramolecular systems and predicting structures. The most sophisticated methods are able to predict properties associated with the model that can usefully be compared to data gathered on the real system. This is useful when several different interpretations of an experiment arise as one model may be shown to fit the data best and so be the most probable explanation. The main limitations of molecular modelling, and computational techniques in general, are the accuracy of the output and the the size of simulation that can usefully be attempted without recourse to a supercomputer or massively parallel facility. 

QSARs are a tool used in the absence of available data for prioritization, classification and screening level risk assessment. In addition, QSARs are rapid, inexpensive, can offer a consistent approach, and help to focus on priorities in data gathering. A broad... 

Facts and data-improvement process World-class quahty organizations utilize rehable data and facts for decisions. Significant investment in information and data gathering systems and tools is made to enable those participating in the quahty process to analyze and solve problems with accurate data and information. 

The data gathered with this arrangement is sent to the mobile phone of the user using low-power Bluetooth 4.0 technology. Using the mobile phone, the future mother would be able to get information about the status of the unborn baby. In addition to its functions as a tool to provide feedback, the phone will be used as a forwarding point for the data. The data will be transferred to a back-end server where additional signal... 

Specialized data-gathering techniques [Winter, 1990 Chaffin and Andersson, 1991 Niebel, 1993] that have evolved into powerful tools in the industrial environment and which can be used for task analysis in other situations include ... 

Because these functions are realized as part of a single instrument, they can be combined to create versatile measurement and control systems. Data gathered can also be transformed by the computer to generate displays that are more meaningful and easier to interpret than outputs from conventional instruments. Students do not need to know anything about computers to use MBL tools because menu-driven software can make the use of the tool self-explanatory. 

Science Citation Index. Produced by Thomson-Reuters, this is a unique reference tool that provides an alternative method to traditional subject-based literature searching. It enables you to search forward from a particular literature reference. For example, to find later applications of a reaction or method that was described in a specific paper, you simply look up the entry for that paper in Science Citation Index to identify papers that subsequently cited the original article. A Web version, called Web of Science, is now the most commonly used interface to the wealth of citation data gathered from the scientific and technical literature. 

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