Knowledge in Imperfect Data

Abstract

Data bases collecting a huge amount of information pertaining to real-world processes, for example industrial ones, contain a significant number of data which are imprecise, mutually incoherent, and frequently even contradictory. It is often the case that data bases of this kind often lack important information. All available means and resources may and should be used to eliminate or at least minimize such problems at the stage of data collection. It should be emphasized, however, that the character of industrial data bases, as well as the ways in which such bases are created and the data are collected, preclude the elimination of all errors. It is, therefore, a necessity to find and develop methods for eliminating errors from already-existing data bases or for reducing their influence on the accuracy of analyses or hypotheses proposed with the application of these data bases. There are at least three main reasons for data preparation: (a) the possibility of using the data for modeling, (b) modeling acceleration, and (c) an increase in the accuracy of the model. An additional motivation for data preparation is that it offers a possibility of arriving at a deeper understanding of the process under modeling, including the understanding of the significance of its most important parameters.