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
- Facts, statistics used for reference or analysis.
- Numbers, characters, symbols, images etc., which can be processed by a computer.
- Data must be interpreted, by a human or machine, to derive meaning
- "Data is a representation of information" *
- Latin 'datum' meaning "that which is given"
- Data plural, datum singular
Information
- Knowledge derived from study, experience (by the senses), or instruction.
- Communication of intelligence.
- "Information is any kind of knowledge that is exchangeable amongst people, about things, facts, concepts, etc., in some context." *
- "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'."
