Putative causes of truly faulty data
| Human error | Mis-entry; misunderstanding of scale values; faulty understanding of use of data entry software; faulty interpretation of device values |
| Lab error | Sampling error (eg, haemolysis); measurement error |
| Device error | Disconnect, interference, faulty calibration, software error; unexplained, transient aberrant values that resolve and do not recur |
| Systems error | Interface error, application interoperability error |
| Software error | Bug in software relating to data value entry; data wrongly captured, stored, and/or retrieved due to software design faults or bugs |
| Hardware error | Hardware issues that impact software and systems |
| Data analytic error | Error in analytic algorithm or process |