transposition & transcription

A transcription error is a specific type of data entry error that is commonly made by human operators or by optical character recognition programs (OCR). Human transcription errors are commonly the result of typographical mistakes, putting fingers in the wrong place during touch typing is the easiest way to ascertain this error

Examples of Transcription Error
Input : Gtegory
Instead of : Gregory
Input : 34^rd of August
Instead of : 23^rd of August
Input : Jishua
Instead of : Joshua

Transposition errors are commonly mistaken for transcription errors, but they should not be confused. As the name suggest, transposition errors occur when characters have “transposed” — that is, they have switched places. Transposition errors are almost always human in origin. The most common way for characters to be transposed is when a user is touch typing at a speed that makes them input one character, before the other. This may be caused by their brain being one step ahead of their body.

Examples of Transposition Error
Input : Gergory
Instead of : Gregory
Input : 23^rd of Auguts
Instead of : 23^rd of August

Input : Johsua
Instead of : Joshua

problem solving
Transcription and Transposition errors are found everywhere, even in professional articles in newspapers or books whether fictional or factual. They can be missed by editors quite simply, just as they can be typed quite simply. The most obvious cure for the errors is for the user to watch the screen when they type, and to proof read. If the entry is occurring in data capture forms, databases or subscription forms, the coder of the forms or the database administrator should use input masks or validation rules.

 A common desktop publishing and word processing applications use spell checkers and grammar checkers which may pick up on some transcription/transposition errors