ABSTRACT
For many projects, data verification and validation are significant components of the data management effort. A variety of related tasks are performed on the values in the database so that they are as accurate as possible, and so that their accuracy (or lack thereof) is documented. This maximizes the chance that data is useful for its intended purpose. The move toward structured data validation has been driven by the EPA Contract Laboratory Program (CLP), but the process is certainly performed on non-EPA projects as well. Verification and validation is not “one size fits all.” Different projects have different data quality objectives, and consequently different data checking activities. The purpose of this section is not to teach you to be a data validator, but rather to make you aware of some of the issues that are addressed in data validation. The details of these issues for any project are contained in the project’s quality assurance project plan (QAPP). The validation procedures are generally different for different categories of data, such as organic water analyses, inorganic water analyses, and air analyses.
