Quality Standards

High-quality data serve as the foundation for effective analysis, utilization, and ensuring data value. This article outlines Twelve Data's quality requirements for the information provided, highlights the challenges associated with maintaining data quality, and defines core data quality concepts from the perspective of data users.

Twelve Data provides access to data in a wide range of aggregated intervals, from 1-minute to 1-month. With institutional-grade low latency (170ms) data streaming via WebSocket, we ensure exceptional reliability and seamless data delivery.

API integration is a seamless process, taking just a few minutes with our SDKs and spreadsheet add-ins. Gain access to high-precision data from all cryptocurrency exchanges, conveniently delivered through a single API in a unified format.

Twelve Data adheres to widely accepted data quality dimensions, redefining their fundamental concepts to align with real-world business needs. Each dimension is further broken down into specific elements, each with its own set of quality indicators to ensure precision and reliability.

Data Quality dimensions

The table below presents a comprehensive data quality assessment, outlining common quality elements along with their associated indicators. Typically, each quality element is evaluated using multiple indicators.

Availability	Usability	Reliability	Relevance	Presentation Quality
Accessibility	Definition/Documentation	Accuracy	Fitness	Readability
Timeliness	Credibility	Integrity		Structure
Authorisation	MetaData	Consistency
		Completeness
		Auditability

A universal, two-layer data quality standard

The table below outlines the data quality standard, which is composed of five key dimensions: availability, usability, reliability, relevance, and presentation quality. Each dimension is further broken down into 1–5 elements that reflect best practices.

Availability: Measures how easily users can access data and related information. It is categorized into three elements: accessibility, authorization, and timeliness.
Usability: Evaluates whether the data is practical and meets users’ needs. This includes elements such as data definition/documentation, reliability, and metadata.
Reliability: Assesses whether the data can be trusted, incorporating elements like accuracy, consistency, completeness, adequacy, and auditability.
Relevance: Describes the degree of alignment between data content and users’ expectations or demands. Its primary quality element is adaptability.
Presentation Quality: Refers to the clarity and structure of data presentation, ensuring users can fully understand the data. Its elements include readability and structure.

Dimensions	Elements	Indicators	Provided by Twelve Data
Availability	Accessibility	Whether a data access interface is provided.	JSON/CSV + WebSocket Twelve Data provides an API to access world financial markets including stocks, Forex, ETFs, indices, and cryptocurrencies. Most of the exchanges are available in real-time, while others have some delays. Over 20+ years of end-of-day data and a couple of years for intraday historical data.
		Data can be effortlessly shared publicly or conveniently made available for purchase.	Yes, data acquisition is organised via API.
	Timeliness	Whether the data is delivered promptly within the specified timeframe.	Depending on your requirements you can retrieve the data in a timely manner.
		Whether data is regularly updated.	Twelve Data provides the latest and the most relevant data from a reliable sources.
		Whether the time interval from data collection and processing to release meets requirements.	Twelve Data provides flexibility regarding the intervals, so you can set this up based on your needs.
Usability	Credibility	Data originates from specialized organizations within a specific country, field, or industry.	Data is sourced from a reliable and accredited organisations which are internationally recognised.
		Experts or specialists regularly audit and check the correctness of the data content.	Twelve Data specialists performs ongoing data checkups and applying fixes when required to maintain data credibility.
		Data falls within the range of known or acceptable values.	Twelve Data provides the information in a recognised standard which is accepted globally across different platforms.
3) Reliability	1) Accuracy	Data provided is accurate.	Accuracy is checked by Twelve Data specialists on a ongoing basis and supported by a technical mechanisms.
		The data representation (or values) accurately reflects the true state of the source information.	Data is sourced from a reliable and accredited organisations which are internationally recognised.
		The representation of information (data) is clear and free from ambiguity.	Same as above, data is represented in a complete, accurate and relevant way.
	2) Consistency	After processing, the data's concepts, value domains, and formats remain consistent with their original state.	Twelve Data doesn't transform or modify data, therefore, the information is provided as it was sourced.
		During a certain time, data remain consistent and verifiable	Twelve Data provides a historical data which can be verified via a third-party data source reconciliation.
		Data and the data from other data sources are consistent or verifiable	Same as above.
	3) Integrity	Data format is clear and meets the criteria	Twelve Data provides the data in a recognised/standardised format.
		Data are consistent with structural integrity	Please see above. The same applies to data structure.
		Data are consistent with content integrity	Please see above. The same applies to the data content.
	4) Completeness	Whether the deficiency of a component will impact use of the data for data with multi-components	Twelve Data uses a homogenous approach in providing assurance over the data quality.
		Whether the deficiency of a component will impact data accuracy and integrity	Twelve Data uses a homogenous approach in providing assurance over the data quality.
4) Relevance	1) Fitness	The data collected do not completely match the theme, but they expound one aspect	Not applicable to Twelve Data, as the data is extracted either in full or not available.
		Most datasets retrieved are within the retrieval theme users need	Twelve Data provides flexibility for the datasets themes depending on the client needs.
		Information theme provides matches with users’ retrieval theme	Same as above.
5) Presentation Quality	1) Readability	Data (content, format, etc.) are clear and understandable	Twelve Data provides the data in a recognised/standardised format.
		Data description, classification, and coding content satisfy specification and are easy to understand	Same as above