Data and Information

Part 1: Data and Information

For many of us, a computer is just known as a piece of equipment – a package of glass, plastic, metal and wires – used to make our work easier. But these computers are already changing our lives. It is now possible for us to see the world in a different way, to achieve new goals, which were impossible before, and to control the world around us. Computers have actually transformed our lives – how we communicate, how we work and learn things and even how we play.

Computers are efficient tools in processing data into useful information. These are essential tools in almost every field of research and applied technology because of their capabilities. And because of a widespread use and availability of computers, it is essential that everyone acquires an understanding of what computers are and how they work.

Data vs. Information

What is data? What is information?

Data is raw material & unorganized facts that need to be processed

When data are processed, organized, structured or presented in a given context so as to make them useful, they are called Information.

Data are raw facts; it refers to graphs or images, particularly as measurements or observations of a set of variables. Data are often viewed as a lowest level of abstraction from which information and knowledge are derived, where information is data that has been organized in a meaningful and useful fashion so as to have additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves.

Data has the potential to become useful information, but first it has to be manipulated and transformed. The best way to do that is to feed the data into a computer. Data is what computers feed on and processed to transform it into something useful.

Figure 1.1 Information is created from data

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PROCESSING

INFORMATION

Facts organized in a meaningful and useful fashion so as to have additional...