Quality of Information Check (QIC)
QIC is an analytical technique designed to assess the reliability, accuracy, completeness, and relevance of information before making decisions based on that information.
In today's digital age, where information overload is the norm, the ability to discern the quality of information can be your greatest asset.
In the world of Generative AI, more content is generated every day than a single human (you!) can read in an average lifetime. Every day more hours of videos are uploaded to the internet than the number of hours you have left before you die1.
How do you decide, what is true, meaningful and relevant?
Today we dive deep into the Quality of Information Check (QIC) - an analytical technique, and a must-have skill for anyone looking to navigate the complexities of modern information with confidence.
Whether you're making crucial business decisions, seeking reliable medical advice, or simply trying to make informed choices in your daily life, understanding how to evaluate information critically is indispensable.
This post not only guides you through the process of performing effective QICs but also illustrates the value it brings to various aspects of both professional and personal life. Learn to separate the wheat from the chaff, and ensure the information you rely on is accurate, relevant, and trustworthy. Equip yourself with the knowledge to make better decisions. Discover how mastering QIC can elevate your decision-making process, enhance your critical thinking, and ultimately transform your approach to information in a world teeming with data.
WARNING: The common side effects of learning and applying QIC in everyday life include improved mood and well-being.
Sources of information
An average person today consumes more information in a week than someone in the 15th century would receive during their entire lifetime. (Jungwirth, 2002).
The information we receive daily shapes how we think about the world around us. Reliable and credible information is essential to making informed choices in our lives. Your choice of career, partner, foods you put on a plate, decisions you make to drive your business, and how you invest for your future — all depend on the information you have and believe in, and on the assumptions you make based on that information.
That’s why it is essential to carefully choose and evaluate your information, and information sources.
This is especially true in medicine, where the quality of information can mean the difference between life and death.
Selected examples of potentially unreliable and not credible sources of information:
The vast majority (>99%) of traditional media and news content.
Virtually all social media content.
Virtually all of what politicians say.
Virtually all of what business leaders say (externally or internally).
Virtually all content curated or designed by “communication experts”, such as marketing information, or selling advertisements.
Most (if not all) corporate media campaigns and press releases (unless releasing statutorily required information - in which case you should reach for the source documents, such as financial reports, government filings, etc.
The vast majority of what friends and colleagues tell you or share with you.
Opinions from the press, blogs, internet posts and websites
Most surveys, market research or polls.
At this point, you might be surprised that the list above includes all of the sources of the information you consume.
You are not alone, it turns out that this is how most people consume information today, which could be one of the reasons for the observed, continued decline in people’s ability to read, write and count.
Here is a short list of more reliable sources:
Examples of typically more reliable and typically credible sources of information
Peer-reviewed, established academic journals: they can provide research findings and critical discussions in every field imaginable.
Certain government-issued publications or documents: Reports, statistics, and analyses from government agencies are often reliable.
Certain industry reports: Reputable organisations and think tanks periodically publish industry insights, trends, and forecasts. They tend to be infinitely more reliable than corporate communications or press releases. Examples include reports from McKinsey & Company, the Pew Research Center, and the World Economic Forum.
Corporate Financial Statements: Public companies are required to file reports with regulatory bodies (e.g., the SEC in the United States) that provide audited financial data (but you will need to learn how to read them accurately, and they are often curated by lawyers and communications experts).
Trade Associations: Many industries have associations that publish data, trends, and forecasts relevant to their sector, which tend to be more reliable than curated corporate communications.
Medical Journals and Textbooks
Health Organisations: The World Health Organisation (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), European Medicines Agency (EMA), and similar entities provide up-to-date health data and research.
Clinical Trials Databases: Databases like ClinicalTrials.gov offer information on clinical studies conducted worldwide.
Technical Reports and Whitepapers: Companies and cybersecurity firms often publish detailed analyses of technologies, vulnerabilities, and threats.
Government Cybersecurity Notices: Agencies like the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issue alerts and guidance on cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities.
Environmental Databases: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) offer research and data on environmental issues.
Established International Organisations: The United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund publish reports and statistics that are crucial for geopolitical and economic analysis.
Archival Resources: National archives, library special collections, and digital libraries provide primary sources that are invaluable for historical and social sciences research.
Before you continue: To benefit from time spent reading my posts, please take time to complete the exercises below. For best results, write your answers down.
EXERCISE 1
After reading about sources of information, prepare a clean, empty piece of paper and something to write with. Think and reflect on which information sources you typically consume. Why?
Now, write down your answers to the following questions: What proportion of your daily input or knowledge comes from the above list of more reliable information sources?
Based on your answer to the previous question, how reliable do you think your information sources are? Why and based on what grounds?
Consider how the quality of the sources of your information shapes your worldview, your expectations and your decisions in critical areas (health, finance, career)? Who and why might be interested in disseminating the information you typically receive? Would focusing on reliable sources of information increase or decrease the amount of information you are exposed to every day? How would it impact your everyday life?
If you have completed the second exercise - let’s move on!
What is QIC?
Enter the Quality of Information Check (QIC) — it’s like a detective tool that helps you figure out if what you're reading or hearing is reliable, accurate, complete, and relevant.
Think of it as giving your information a thorough check-up, looking at where it comes from, what it says, and how it fits into the big picture. Even though the fancy term "Quality of Information Check" might not be something everyone's familiar with, the idea behind it is something lots of folks use every day.
Whether you're running a business, working in healthcare, or just trying to make smart choices in your everyday life, knowing how to assess the quality of your information is super handy.
It's all about making sure you've got the right tools to sift through the noise.
What are the benefits of applying the QIC in everyday life?
It helps in distinguishing between high-quality, reliable information and misinformation or biased information.
It can help to avoid deception or unwanted influence on your thoughts or actions
It can help to see through sales and marketing techniques trying to convince you to take action that you have not intended to take or wouldn’t otherwise make (think about: have you ever regretted a purchase?)
Increased resilience to in-person and online scams
Whether planning a vacation, making a purchase, or deciding on a diet, QIC helps by ensuring decisions are based on accurate, complete, and relevant information.
In the business context, QIC helps leaders make informed decisions by ensuring the information they rely on is accurate, reliable, and comprehensive.
QIC is vital in evaluating the quality of market intelligence, ensuring that businesses understand their competitive environment, customer needs, and emerging trends accurately.
Assessing the quality of operational data can lead to improvements in process efficiency, cost reduction, and overall performance enhancement.
In medicine, QIC ensures that diagnoses and treatment plans are based on the most current, comprehensive, and accurate medical information, leading to better patient outcomes. If you use Google to “diagnose” yourself, QIC coupled with Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) are your key tools!
Policymakers rely on QIC to make informed decisions about public health guidelines and interventions, ensuring they are based on solid evidence and data.
Whether investing, saving, or budgeting, applying QIC helps in evaluating financial advice and information, leading to better financial health.
In an era of widespread information and misinformation, QIC improves media literacy, helping individuals discern credible news sources from unreliable ones.
When and how to use QIC?
Whenever you come across any new piece information.
Seems like you would need to use way too often? You are correct.
Learning to quickly identify and ignore irrelevant and useless information is a critical skill that most of us were never taught.
TOP TIP: Consider reading this article first before reading further.
In theory, each time you come across a new piece of information, you should make a judgment establishing how much confidence you have that this is accurate, reliable, meaningful information coming from a reliable and trusted source.
TOP TIP: Don’t worry about having to make too many judgments. If you stick to reliable sources of information relevant to your personal or professional circumstances, you will quickly realise that there is in fact relatively little amount of credible information to evaluate! The vast majority of data we consume is a nothing but a meaningless noise!
The vast majority is nothing but noise which you can safely and automatically dismiss without investing any time.
The method
Performing a QIC is a relatively complex process, which I have laid out in simple steps below:
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