In order to comply with the law, users must register all such data through the relevant Department or College and observe the eight principles set out by the 1984 Act. In particular, personal data must be registered before it can be used on any Computing Service system, and a Computing Service Data Protection Act form must be completed and returned. Special precautions must be taken when handling sensitive data. In a disturbing number of cases the proposed analysis has subsequently had to be severely restricted or even abandoned. Sometimes the standard statistical or numerical methods and the available computer programs are inadequate and the development of suitable techniques would of itself provide a PhD project.
Serious problems can also arise from the use of inappropriate computer software for data analysis.
This can lead to results that are demonstrably incorrect or at least suspect, besides risking unfavourable comment from referees and reviewers. For example, statistical procedures provided by spreadsheet and database packages are best treated with caution. They might be based on poor numerical techniques leading to inaccurate statistics, their limitations might be poorly documented if at all, and essential supplementary tests might be omitted. University staff, research workers, and supervisors of research students are urged to ensure that methodological and computing requirements for data analysis are thoroughly evaluated at an early stage in the planning of any relevant project and certainly before any substantial resources are spent in collecting data. If necessary, advice should be sought.