Data and Information
DATA | INFORMATION | 123424331911 | Your winning lottery ticket number | 140593 | Your date of birth | Aaabbbccd | The grades you want in your GCSEs |
Data and information
Data, information & knowledge
Data
Data consist of raw facts and figures - it does not have any meaning until it is processed and turned into something useful. It comes in many forms, the main ones being letters, numbers, images, symbols and sound.
It is essential that data is available because it is the first step in creating meaningful information.
Ex; 123424331911; 140593; aaabbbccd, might not mean anything by themselves, but if it is processed and turned into (the chart below) they turn into something useful.
Information
Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the person who receives it.
INFORMATION = DATA + CONTEXT + MEANING
INFORMATION = DATA + CONTEXT + MEANING
Example of information
DATA | 21041926 | This has no meaning or context | CONTEXT | It is a British date | This allows us to register it as 21st April 1926. It still has no meaning and is therefore not information | MEANING | The Birth date of Queen Elizabeth II | This gives usa ll the elements required dor it to be called ‘information’ |
Knowledge
Knowledge is the ability of understanding the relationship between pieces of information and what to actually do with the information.
Consider this scenario: Person puts a finger into very hot water.
Data gathered: Finger nerves sends pain data to the brain.
Processing: Brain considers the data and comes up with...
Information: Painful finger means it is not in a good place.
Action: Brain tells finger to remove itself from hot water.
Knowledge: Sticking finger in hot water is a bad idea.
Knowledge is having an understanding of the ‘rules’
Types of data
Data can be stored in many different formats called ‘data types’.
When setting up a database or spreadsheet, it is important that the
Data and information
Data, information & knowledge
Data
Data consist of raw facts and figures - it does not have any meaning until it is processed and turned into something useful. It comes in many forms, the main ones being letters, numbers, images, symbols and sound.
It is essential that data is available because it is the first step in creating meaningful information.
Ex; 123424331911; 140593; aaabbbccd, might not mean anything by themselves, but if it is processed and turned into (the chart below) they turn into something useful.
Information
Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the person who receives it.
INFORMATION = DATA + CONTEXT + MEANING
INFORMATION = DATA + CONTEXT + MEANING
Example of information
DATA | 21041926 | This has no meaning or context | CONTEXT | It is a British date | This allows us to register it as 21st April 1926. It still has no meaning and is therefore not information | MEANING | The Birth date of Queen Elizabeth II | This gives usa ll the elements required dor it to be called ‘information’ |
Knowledge
Knowledge is the ability of understanding the relationship between pieces of information and what to actually do with the information.
Consider this scenario: Person puts a finger into very hot water.
Data gathered: Finger nerves sends pain data to the brain.
Processing: Brain considers the data and comes up with...
Information: Painful finger means it is not in a good place.
Action: Brain tells finger to remove itself from hot water.
Knowledge: Sticking finger in hot water is a bad idea.
Knowledge is having an understanding of the ‘rules’
Types of data
Data can be stored in many different formats called ‘data types’.
When setting up a database or spreadsheet, it is important that the