A Tailor-made Data Quality Approach for Higher Educational Data
, , , , , , and | Jul 09, 2020
About this article
Article Category: Research Paper
Published Online: Jul 09, 2020
Page range: 129 - 160
Received: Feb 08, 2020
Accepted: May 27, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2020-0029
Keywords
© 2020 Cinzia Daraio et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Figure 1
Figure 2
j.jdis-2020-0029.apptab.001.w2aab3b7c80b1b6b1ab2b3ab3b2Aa
| Metadata Code | Description |
|---|---|
| a | refers to the fact that the variable is not applicable to the unit of observation (for example number of PhD students for a HEI which does not have the right to award doctorates). |
| m | refers to the fact that the data in question is missing. |
| x | should be applied when a specific breakdown is not available, but the data are included in the total. |
| xc | should be used when the value is included in another subcategory (e.g. private funding, which are included in third party funding but cannot be singled out). |
| xr | should be used for data that are included in other rows, which can occur when an institution is part of another institution. |
| nc | should be used for data that have not been collected in the reference year (e.g. the gender breakdown of full professors was not collected for the academic year 2011/2012, but was introduced in the next data collection). |
| c | is used in the public database only for data with restricted access (in the full dataset the data are available, but the same flag “c” is used). |
| s | is used in the public database only for data below 3 to keep anonymity of individuals (in the full dataset the data are available). |
j.jdis-2020-0029.apptab.002.w2aab3b7c80b1b6b1ab2b3ab4b7Aa
| Flag Code | Description | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| b | break in time series | When changes in definitions or data collection procedures imply that the data are not comparable across years. The change is explained in the remark section |
| de | break in time series due to a demographic event | When changes in the perimeter due to demographic events (the same ETER ID, but institution changed, i.e. spin-outs and take-overs) imply that data are not comparable across years. |
| d | definition differs | Differences in definitions adopted for data collection imply that figures significantly differ from those complying with the ETER methodology and are not comparable across countries. |
| i | see metadata | There are specific conditions that imply that the value of a cell should be interpreted in a different way or not directly compared with others. |
| ic | inconsistent | Either when the sum of the break down differs from the total or if another semantic rule is violated. |
| rd | rounded | When data have been rounded by the data provider and thus are included in this format in the database. |
| c | confidential | When data are available, but restricted to public access (this flag is relevant only for user with unrestricted access). |
| ms | missing subcategory | This flag is applied to totals in order to warn users that the total does not include one relevant subcategory (for example total expenditures not including capital expenditures). |
| p | provisional | Data quality checks highlight some anomalies, like abnormal ratios or large fluctuations between years. Either these anomalies are not explained or a generated by data issues that could not be resolved. The corresponding data may be revised in the future. |
| r | remark | While the data are methodologically correct, some special event generates data anomalies, like a very large number of graduations in a single year. The remark field explains the source of anomaly. |
List of variables considered for the multiannual checks.
| Variable |
|---|
| Total expenditure (PPP) |
| Total revenues (PPP) |
| Total academic staff (FTE) |
| Total academic staff (HC) |
| No. of administrative staff (FTE) |
| Total staff (FTE) |
| Total staff (HC) |
| Total students enrolled (by ISCED level) |
| Total graduates (by ISCED level) |
Cross-sectional ratios for consistency analysis.
| Description | Code | % |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolled Students / Academic Staff | R1 | 27.6% |
| Academic staff / Total staff | R2 | 18.7% |
| Personnel expenditure / Total staff | R3 | 15.1% |
| Personnel expend. / Total expenditure | R4 | 5.2% |
| Total expenditure / Total revenue | R5 | 8.9% |
| Basic Government funds / Total revenue | R6 | 6.1% |
| Graduates 5–7 / Enrolled students 5–7 | R7 | 15.0% |
| Graduates 8 / Enrolled students 8 | R8 | 3.2% |
Cross-sectional ratios – a country by country reporting.
| R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 8.0% | 1.9% | 0.9% | 8.1% | 1.7% | 3.4% | |||
| Belgium | 0.5% | 0.2% | 0.2% | ||||||
| Bulgaria | 4.0% | 1.1% | 0.7% | 4.4% | 1.6% | ||||
| Croatia | 2.1% | 2.0% | |||||||
| Cyprus | 1.3% | 1.7% | 8.9% | 10.2% | 6.3% | 5.0% | 3.9% | ||
| Czech Republic | 6.7% | 4.7% | 0.2% | 2.7% | 17.3% | 4.0% | 4.6% | ||
| Estonia | 4.1% | 2.4% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 31.4% | ||||
| Finland | 0.8% | 1.7% | 2.3% | ||||||
| Germany | 21.3% | 26.5% | 53.5% | 55.8% | 70.6% | 1.2% | 16.1% | 22.0% | 3.2% |
| Greece | 7.3% | 1.1% | 6.4% | 3.3% | |||||
| Hungary | 1.8% | 13.1% | 2.1% | 2.6% | |||||
| Ireland | 0.1% | 0.8% | 0.9% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 1.3% | |||
| Italy | 6.8% | 4.2% | 4.5% | 16.5% | 0.8% | ||||
| Latvia | 2.6% | 4.2% | 11.5% | 2.0% | 3.6% | 1.4% | 1.1% | 6.4% | |
| Lithuania | 0.5% | 2.1% | 11.0% | 1.4% | 2.4% | 0.6% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 4.4% |
| Luxembourg | 0.1% | 0.6% | 1.1% | ||||||
| Malta | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 1.2% | ||||
| Netherlands | 0.8% | 0.6% | 3.8% | 0.8% | 0.6% | 9.9% | 2.7% | ||
| North Macedonia | 0.3% | 0.6% | 9.2% | ||||||
| Norway | 1.4% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.5% | |||||
| Poland | 11.2% | 3.6% | 19.7% | 9.5% | 1.1% | 3.9% | |||
| Portugal | 2.6% | 16.3% | 0.2% | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1.9% | 0.1% | |
| Serbia | 2.2% | 1.9% | 5.5% | 3.9% | |||||
| Slovakia | 0.4% | 1.4% | 2.0% | 0.4% | 11.6% | 6.6% | 15.4% | 0.2% | |
| Slovenia | 5.9% | 5.5% | 3.7% | ||||||
| Spain | 3.6% | 1.9% | 4.0% | 9.9% | 0.2% | ||||
| Sweden | 1.0% | 0.2% | 0.5% | 1.4% | 8.7% | 1.7% | 0.6% | ||
| Switzerland | 2.1% | 0.2% | 3.5% | 11.6% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 0.5% | 0.2% | |
| Turkey | 7.5% | 9.7% | 4.4% | 0.3% | |||||
| UK | 6.0% | 13.8% | 3.1% | 6.1% | 7.5% | 26.6% | 11.6% | 3.3% | 1.1% |
j.jdis-2020-0029.apptab.003.w2aab3b7c80b1b6b1ab2b3b1b3Aa
| Consistency indicator | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Total Expenditure=SUM(personnel expenditure, non-personnel expenditure, capital expenditure, unclassified expenditures) |
| 2 | Total expenditure>0 |
| 3 | Total Income=SUM(core budget, third party funding, tuition fees, revenues unclassified) |
| 4 | Total Income>0 |
| 5 | Staff Total (HC and FTE)=SUM(academic staff, non-academic staff) |
| 6 | Staff Total>0 |
| 7 | Academic staff total=SUM(female academic staff, male academic staff, unclassified) |
| 8 | Academic staff total=SUM(national academic staff, foreign academic staff, unclassified) |
| 9 | Academic staff total=SUM(academic staff by field of education) |
| 10 | Academic staff total-full professors>0 |
| 11 | Full professors=SUM(female full professors, male full professors, unclassified) |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Student Total=SUM(female students, male students, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 15 | Student Total=SUM(national students, foreigner students, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 16 | Student Total=SUM(resident students, mobile students, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 17 | Student Total=SUM(students by fields of education) (for each ISCED level) |
| 18 | SUM(Total students enrolled ISCED 5–7, Total students ISCED 8)>0 |
| 19 | Graduates Total=SUM(female graduates, male graduates, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 20 | Graduates Total=SUM(national graduates, foreigner graduates, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 21 | Graduates Total=SUM(resident graduates, mobile graduates, unclassified) (for each ISCED level) |
| 22 | SUM(Total graduates ISCED 5–7, Graduates ISCED 8)>0 |
| 23 | |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Total expenditure-R&D expenditure>0 |
| 26 | Ancestor year ≤ foundation year ≤ legal status year |
Outcome of the multiannual checks. Number of cases detected by variable and country.
| Variable | AL | CH | CY | DK | EE | FI | HR | IE | LI | LT | LV | MK | MT | NO | SE | SK | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 41 | ||||||||||
| 9 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 41 | ||||||||
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 22 | |||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 14 | |||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 12 | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | 15 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 24 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 64 | |||||
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 24 | ||||||||
| 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 30 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 11 | |||||||||||||
| 1 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 1 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 10 | 32 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 3 | 5 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 27 | |||||||||||
| 18 | 11 | 18 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 96 | |||||
| 8 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 51 | |||||||
| 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 7 | 51 | ||||||
| 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 24 | |||||||||
| 18 | 18 | 59 | 36 | 2 | 22 | 33 | 58 | 1 | 72 | 37 | 21 | 9 | 61 | 71 | 105 | 623 | |
Completeness of data by country in the ETER Database.
| Completeness (2011–2016) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Average Completeness | Min | Max | Range |
| High level of completeness | ||||
| Switzerland CH | 0.99 | 0.93 | 1.00 | 0.06 |
| Liechtenstein LI | 0.98 | 0.98 | 0.99 | 0.01 |
| Germany DE | 0.97 | 0.23 | 0.99 | 0.76 |
| United Kingdom UK | 0.96 | 0.13 | 1.00 | 0.87 |
| Sweden SE | 0.95 | 0.29 | 1.00 | 0.71 |
| Portugal PT | 0.92 | 0.23 | 0.97 | 0.74 |
| Malta MT | 0.92 | 0.83 | 0.95 | 0.13 |
| Cyprus CY | 0.91 | 0.49 | 0.99 | 0.51 |
| Ireland IE | 0.90 | 0.80 | 0.95 | 0.15 |
| Austria AT | 0.90 | 0.85 | 0.96 | 0.11 |
| Medium-High level of completeness | ||||
| Spain ES | 0.87 | 0.81 | 0.94 | 0.13 |
| Estonia EE | 0.86 | 0.85 | 0.99 | 0.14 |
| Finland FI | 0.85 | 0.60 | 0.95 | 0.35 |
| Norway NO | 0.84 | 0.13 | 0.93 | 0.80 |
| Bulgaria BG | 0.84 | 0.83 | 0.87 | 0.04 |
| Slovakia SK | 0.83 | 0.76 | 0.88 | 0.12 |
| Lithuania LT | 0.81 | 0.24 | 0.98 | 0.74 |
| Italy IT | 0.80 | 0.36 | 0.92 | 0.56 |
| Latvia LV | 0.79 | 0.12 | 0.90 | 0.79 |
| Czech Republic CZ | 0.78 | 0.23 | 0.90 | 0.67 |
| Poland PL | 0.77 | 0.24 | 0.89 | 0.65 |
| Medium level of completeness | ||||
| Hungary HU | 0.74 | 0.12 | 0.92 | 0.80 |
| Netherland NL | 0.74 | 0.35 | 0.83 | 0.48 |
| Greece GR | 0.74 | 0.34 | 0.90 | 0.55 |
| Croatia HR | 0.73 | 0.26 | 0.90 | 0.63 |
| Denmark DK | 0.65 | 0.10 | 0.94 | 0.84 |
| North Macedonia MK | 0.57 | 0.11 | 0.84 | 0.73 |
| Luxemburg LU | 0.53 | 0.29 | 0.93 | 0.63 |
| Low level of completeness | ||||
| France FR | 0.45 | 0.06 | 0.96 | 0.89 |
| Slovenia SI | 0.45 | 0.11 | 0.85 | 0.74 |
| Belgium BE | 0.42 | 0.09 | 0.97 | 0.87 |
| Iceland IS | 0.41 | 0.13 | 0.55 | 0.42 |
| Serbia RS | 0.35 | 0.09 | 0.83 | 0.74 |
| Albania AL | 0.33 | 0.13 | 0.69 | 0.56 |
| Turkey TR | 0.26 | 0.11 | 0.64 | 0.53 |
| Montenegro ME | 0.12 | 0.11 | 0.12 | 0.01 |
| Romania RO | 0.10 | 0.06 | 0.12 | 0.06 |
List of cross-sectional ratios for checks.
| Code | Name |
|---|---|
| R1 | Enrolled Students / Academic Staff |
| R2 | Academic staff / Total staff |
| R3 | Personnel expenditure / Total staff |
| R4 | Personnel expend. / Total expenditure |
| R5 | Total expenditure / Total revenue |
| R6 | Basic Government funds / Total revenue |
| R7 | Graduates ISCED 5–7 / Enrolled students ISCED 5–7 |
| R8 | Graduates ISCED 8 / Enrolled students ISCED 8 |