BEC Deck 7-Information & Communication Systems

Question 1

Bit (binary digit)-

Answer 1

An individual zero or one; the smallest piece of information that can be represented.

Question 2

Byte-

Answer 2

A group of (usually) eight bits that are used to represent alphabetic & numeric characters and other symbols.

Question 3

Field-

Answer 3

A group of characters (bytes) identifying a characteristic of an entity.

Question 4

Record-

Answer 4

A group of related fields (or attributes) describing an individual instance of an entity.

Question 5

File-

Answer 5

A collection of records for one specific entity.

Question 6

Data Definition Language (DDL)-

Answer 6

Allows the definition of tables and fields and relationships among tables.

Question 7

Data Manipulation Language (DML)-

Answer 7

Allows the user to add new records, delete old records, and to update existing records.

Question 8

Data Query Language (DQL)-

Answer 8

Allows the user to extract information from the database; most relational databases use structured query language (SQL) to extract the data.

Question 9

Operational Systems-

Answer 9

Support the day-to-day activities of the business (purchasing of goods and services, manufacturing activities, sales to customers, cash collections, payroll, etc.) Often known as Transaction Processing Systems (TPS).

Question 10

Management Information Systems (MISs)-

Answer 10

Systems designed to support routine management problems based primarily on data from transaction processing systems.

Question 11

Accounting Information Systems (AISs)-

Answer 11

AIS take financial data from transaction processing systems and use it to produce financial statements and control reports for management. AISs are a subset of MISs.

Question 12

Decision Support Systems (DSSs)-

Answer 12

DSSs provide information to mid and upper level managers to assist them in managing non-routine problems and in long-range planning.

Question 13

Data warehousing-

Answer 13

Is a database that supports organizational decision making. Data from the live databases are copied to the warehouse so that data can queried without reducing the performance or stability of live systems.

Question 14

Data Mining-

Answer 14

Is searching the data warehouse to discover patterns and relationships.

Question 15

Application controls concern the accuracy, validity, and completeness of data processing in specific application programs. They can be placed in one of three categories.

Answer 15

1) Input controls-Controls over the data entry process.
2) Processing Controls-Control over the master file update.
3) Output Controls-Control over the production of reports.