Which is a clear sign that data is not fit for purpose?

• A. Data is readily available with correct granularity.
• B. Data is unavailable or has wrong granularity.
• C. Data is encrypted.
• D. Data is highly standardized.

Answer: (B)

Not fit for purpose when data isn’t accessible or doesn’t have the right level of detail for the task. If you can’t access the data at all, you can’t perform analyses or make decisions that rely on it. If the granularity is wrong—either too coarse to capture needed patterns or too fine to be practical for the decision at hand—the results won’t reflect reality or will be unusable for the intended use.

For example, needing transaction-level data to analyze customer behavior but only having annual summaries makes it impossible to see seasonal trends. On the other hand, data being encrypted or highly standardized doesn’t by itself indicate it isn’t fit; encryption protects security, and standardization often helps integration and quality, provided you have legitimate access and the needed level of detail.