Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate - Information Technology/Data and Information

DATA AND INFORMATION
The interchange of the words data and information is widespread, but M150 should help you to develop a clearer understanding of the differences between the two.

Data

 * 1) Facts, statistics used for reference or analysis.
 * 2) Numbers, characters, symbols, images etc., which can be processed by a computer.
 * 3) Data must be interpreted, by a human or machine, to derive meaning
 * 4) "Data is a representation of information" *
 * 5) Latin 'datum' meaning "that which is given"
 * 6) Data plural, datum singular

Information

 * 1) Knowledge derived from study, experience (by the senses), or instruction.
 * 2) Communication of intelligence.
 * 3) "Information is any kind of knowledge that is exchangeable amongst people, about things, facts, concepts, etc., in some context." *
 * 4) "Information is interpreted data" *

DATA OR DATUM
"The word 'data' is a plural Latin word but it is generally used as a singular word in English."

Here are some definitions:

"data n, pl. 1 Facts on which a decision is to be based. 2 Facts to be processed by computer. datum n. (pl. data) item of data"

Reference: Oxford Quick Reference Dictionary and Thesaurus - Oxford University Press

"data

noun 1 facts and statistics used for reference or analysis. 2 the quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer.

USAGE Traditionally and in technical use data is treated as a plural, as in Latin it is the plural of datum. In modern non-scientific use, however, it is often treated as a singular, and sentences such as data was collected over a number of years are now acceptable.

ORIGIN Latin, plural of DATUM.

datum

noun (pl. data) 1 a piece of information. 2 an assumption or premise from which inferences may be drawn. 3 a fixed starting point of a scale or operation.

ORIGIN Latin, 'something given'."

REFERENCE
DATA, COMPUTING AND INFORMATION