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CU Discovers Data Quality, Withdraws Report
Consumers Union (CU) discovered “a substantive issue” that may have affected their testing of infant car seats. The tests involved simulating a side impact at 38 mph. The CU study was published in the February 2007 issue of Consumer Reports. As a result of the possibly flawed test, the publication is “withdrawing its recent report on infant car seats pending further tests of the performance of those seats in side-impact collisions.”
CU does not make clear exactly how the test problems were discovered. However, the NGO notes that the “issue came to light based on new information received Tuesday night and Wednesday morning from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) concerning the speed at which our side-impact tests were conducted.” Also not clear is the internal process that resulted in the consumer watchdog deciding to withdraw the report.
Winston applauds CU for having the courage to withdraw a potentially flawed report. Winston encourages CU to build on important step by establishing a transparent Data Quality process that would allow all affected stakeholders to petition the organization if any of their reports appear to contain biased, inaccurate or otherwise misleading information. Should CU determine though an open process the information in question does not meet their Data Quality standards, it should be withdrawn and corrected.
See CU statement
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