Data, Information and Knowledge

Question 1

What is data?

Answer 1

Data is the raw facts and figures before they have been processed.

Question 2

What is information?

Answer 2

Information is processed data.

Question 3

What is the formula for information?

Answer 3

Information = Data + [Structure] + [Context] + Meaning

Question 4

What are structure and context (relating to data)?

Answer 4

Structure is the way the data is shown. So a date would be 18/05/95. Context is what the data actually is - so that was a date.

Question 5

What is knowledge?

Answer 5

The application of information to a situation.

Question 6

Give an example of data that may need to be kept secure.

Answer 6

Business information/secret service intelligence

Question 7

Give a few examples of possible restrictions for receiving information.

Answer 7

Language barrier. And people who are disabled may be affected in receiving information.

Question 8

It is not possible to give all information in all formats. What are the 5 main representation methods of information?

Answer 8

Text, graphics, sound, moving pictures and LED (light-emitting diode).

Question 9

Advantages/disadvantages of text?

Answer 9

It’s clear to understand and has lots of detail BUT you need to be able to read and understand the language. It can also be confusing depending on the level of language and it cannot be read quickly.

Question 10

Advantages/disadvantages of graphics?

Answer 10

You do not need to speak a certain language to understand what a graphic is trying to represent BUT they can be confusing if you don’t know the symbols. And some symbols do not mean the same thing in different countries.

Question 11

Advantages/disadvantages of sound?

Answer 11

Sound has no fixed position. You do not need to be in line of sight with it and it is also great for visually impaired people BUT it’s not good in large areas, usually language based, you may not know what the sound represents and deaf people cannot acquire the data.

Question 12

Advantages/disadvantages of moving pictures?

Answer 12

Lots of information is conveyed, they are not language dependent and they can bring an emphasis to text BUT they are linear, so if you don’t see the beginning you may not understand.

Question 13

Advantages/disadvantages of LEDs?

Answer 13

They can allow data to be kept secure through only certain people knowing what they mean. They can be used in noisy places and they are also similar to graphics BUT you need to know what information the light is telling you and you need to be able to see the lights.

Question 14

SOME EXAMPLES OF REPRESENTATION METHODS:

Answer 14

User manuals are text and graphics. Fire alarms are sound. Electronic tills are text and sound based. Early-learning toys are sound, graphics and text based.

Question 15

What is the different between information and knowledge?

Answer 15

If the data was 46, 54. The information could be the scores for 2 teams in a pub quiz. Once we apply this information to the situation, we can see that the 2nd team won, which is the knowledge.

Question 16

EXAMPLE OF KNOWLEDGE:

Answer 16

If you came to an amber light at a traffic light whilst driving, the data would be the amber light. The information it is conveying is that you must stop. If you apply this to the situation, the knowledge is how to stop the vehicle you are driving and when to start braking.

Question 17

What are conditions of knowledge? In the context of braking at an amber light at a traffic light.

Answer 17

The conditions of the road, tyre grip and weather would all be conditions of when to brake the vehicle for it to stop at the traffic lights.

Question 18

What is boolean data?

Answer 18

Boolean data only has two values - true and false. This is anything that contains two examples such as Male/Female, Yes/No. It is used to hold data where the response can only be one of two values.

Question 19

What is real data?

Answer 19

Real data contains numbers that have decimal places. e.g. 2.7m, £1.75, 1.82cm

Question 20

What is the integer data type?

Answer 20

Whole numbers with no decimal places. They are used when the accuracy may not be of importance. So TV channels or large amounts of money.

Question 21

What is text/string data?

Answer 21

This is any alphanumeric character. So a name (James), a postcode or a telephone number. Telephone numbers come under this as they have a leading 0 which would be disregarded in an integer data type.

Question 22

What is date/time data?

Answer 22

This displays the date and/or time to different degrees of accuracy. 1995/7th September 2007/12:45

Question 23

Why it it important to allocate the correct data type?

Answer 23

Because various processes are carried out on the data, some of them can only work on some data types. For example, multiplication cannot be carried out on text.

Question 24

What is direct data?

Answer 24

Data collected from an original source. So data that has been physically collected by yourself.

Question 25

What is indirect data?

Answer 25

Indirect data has two interpretations. Either data that has been used to a purpose different to why it was originally collected. Or it can be data that has been purchased so collected by somebody else.

Question 26

Advantages/disadvantages of of direct data?

Answer 26

The source is known and verified. Exact data can be collected and you can change the data being collected in response to answers BUT you may not get a large range of data and it may not be available at the location/time.

Question 27

Advantages/disadvantages of indirect data?

Answer 27

A large range of data is out there that could not have been collected directly. Data can come from different locations and time periods. Analysis might already have been completed on some data BUT you don’t know if it was bias data. Cannot be certain of accuracy.

Question 28

What is the difference between static and dynamic information?

Answer 28

Static information stays the same (a CD), whilst dynamic information can be updated (a website).

Question 29

What does GIGO stand for?

Answer 29

Garbage in, garbage out. It means that if the data put into a system isn’t very good, the information won’t be either.

Question 30

What are the six factors that determine how good the data is?

Answer 30

Accuracy, relevance, age, completeness, presentation, level of detail.

Question 31

Describe accuracy.

Answer 31

The data needs to be accurate, if it is not you cannot rely on the information it provides.

Question 32

Describe relevance.

Answer 32

If you have some information that doesn’t relate to the topic; it is worthless. It increases the volume of data thus taking longer to look at.

Question 33

Describe age.

Answer 33

The information might be too old. It might have changed over time, meaning it is no longer relevant.

Question 34

Describe completeness.

Answer 34

If you only have part of the information it is worthless. Data requires a context, structure and meaning for it to have value and be useful.

Question 35

Describe presentation.

Answer 35

The information needs to be presentable. It can be good to use a picture to go with text.

Question 36

Describe the level of detail.

Answer 36

If there is too much information there it can be difficult to find what you require. There is a balance between too much and too little.

Question 37

What is encoding data?

Answer 37

Putting it into shorthand.

Question 38

Give an example of encoded data.

Answer 38

A postcode is encoded data representing an address.

Question 39

EXAMPLE OF A KEY WHEN ENCODING:

Answer 39

We don’t know what BLTR36 means. If we have a key saying BL = Blue, TR = Trousers and the last two digits = size, we can see they are blue trousers, size 36.

Question 40

Disadvantage of encoding data?

Answer 40

The data isn’t as accurate anymore. If people had to choose between 4 hair colours to describe themselves, they couldn’t be specific. We can also get BL confused for blue and black, for example.

Question 41

NOTE: Encoding free comments require value judgements. This is where an absolute value is placed on some vague text…

Answer 41

Different people will apply different value judgements to the same text and vice versa.

Question 42

Advantages of encoding?

Answer 42

The computer memory requirements are a lot less when working with a lot of data. It’s also quicker to type in a code such as BLTR36. It is also easier to validate the code as it follows a set pattern.