All Data are Wrong, but Some are Useful? Advocating the Need for Data Auditing

n a recent paper from the Annals of Applied Statistics, Cox (2007 Cox, D. R. (2007), “Applied Statistics: A Review,” Annals of Applied Statistics, 1, 1–16.[CrossRef], [Google Scholar]) discusses the main phases of applied statistical research ranging from clarifying study objectives to final data analysis and interpreting results. As an incidental remark to these main phases, we advocate that beyond cleaning and preprocessing the data, it is a good practice to audit the data to determine if they can be trusted at all. A case study based on Ghanaian Official Fishery Statistics is used to illustrate this need, with Benford's law being the tool used to carrying out the data audit.