Usable Information? How Can it

¶ … usable information? How can it be misused? Find online articles to support your argument in both situations. Is the article based on quantitative research? Explain.

Often companies have data dispersed through a myriad of databases, systems, legacy applications and often stored in personal productivity applications as well. The dispersed nature of all the data in a company makes the process of using it in a concerted, focused way extremely difficult. The pervasive use of enterprise-wide analytics applications have continued to gain momentum in businesses that need to translate the massive amounts of data they have into information. Analytics applications that are state-of-the-art today are capable of analyzing both structured and unstructured content, creating data models that represent complex relationships in the data and delivering insights not possible through any other means (Lavelle, Lesser, Shockley, Hopkins, Kruschwitz, 2011). The last series of recessionary economic periods over the last ten years have accelerated the adoption of analytics, as more companies are relying on this type of enterprise application to reduce the risk of making the wrong decision as much as possible. Analytics are also often being used within the context of dashboards and scorecards to provide real-time updates on the current status of systems and strategies throughout a company as well.

While there are many benefits to analytics, there are just as many ways to misuse the data and results to slant or filter analysis to support a predefined conclusion. This often happens where management has created a given series of strategies and seeks to substantiate the direction they have chosen through the use of research. The cited article provides insights into how the ethics of using analytics is managed through oversight and compliance especially for publically held companies in the U.S. (Lavelle, Lesser, Shockley, Hopkins, Kruschwitz, 2011). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other laws including HIPAA define the parameters by which analytics and reporting must be delivered to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a periodic basis for any publically traded company. The need for greater oversight of operating results to reduce fraud is also forcing a higher level of ethics into the use of analytics within businesses.

List only one law governing information systems. Specify the title of the law, a short description, and excerpt of the law, its audience, and its governing body. Also discuss why in your opinion is the necessity of that law, and what could be some of the consequences it its absence. Provide proper ONLINE reference(s) and citations.

The most significant law to affect information systems is the healthcare industry is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Consumer Privacy Guide, 2001). An excerpt of this law says that the U.S. Government will coordinate with the U.S. Congress and the Secretary of Health and Human Services to create a series of privacy rules and define the levels of compliance to them prior to any electronic system being used to automate them (Consumer Privacy Guide, 2001). In 1999 the Clinton Administration pushed through an initiate for Federal Health Privacy Records Act as an addendum to HIPAA to protect medical records from unauthorized access and also define it-based controls on them as private property (Consumer Privacy Guide, 2001).

Some of us are die-hard Mac users and some stern PC users. Describe ways we could be biased on the preference to use one or the other. When designing surveys, how can we ensure that the survey questions are not biased?