Data and Hardware
           Accuracy of data input is important,
and certain methods are more ideal given a particular situation. The following is a table that provides the
best method of input for printed questionnaires, telephone surveys, bank
checks, retail tags, and long documents.
Situation
Ideal method of input
Printed
questionnaires
Optical Mark
Recognition (OMR), in the form of boxes that may be shaded, represents the
most accurate form of input for printed questionnaires.
Telephone
survey
Voice-recognition
devices reduce the possibility of error from personnel mistyping or
incorrectly entering a survey participant’s responses.
Bank checks
Magnetic Ink
Character Recognition devices (MICR) reduce the chance that a bank employee
will erroneously enter incorrect data; especially important when considering
the vast quantity of numbers that would be entered on a regular basis.
Retail tags
Bar code
scanners coupled with Point of Sale devices represent an ideal and accurate
way to track and process retail items, and reduce the possibility of error on
the part of the employee.
Long documents
Optical
Character Recognition (OCR) allows for the scanning and recognition of words
from long documents, reducing the possibility of error from manual
transcription.
