Data, Information, Knowledge

Question 1

What is data?

Answer 1

Data is raw facts and figures or a set of values, measurements or records of transactions.

Question 2

What is information?

Answer 2

Information is processed data. It has a context and meaning.

Question 3

What is knowledge?

Answer 3

Knowledge is derived by applying rules to information.

Question 4

Give two examples of encoded data.

Answer 4

Airport codes LHR, LGW, SXF.
Country codes GB, FR, DE. 
Height - tall, medium, small. 
A-Level grades A, B, C. 
Hair colour - black, brown, red, blonde. 
Restaurant review - 5-star to 1-star.

Question 5

What are two advantages of encoding data?

Answer 5

Data is stored in a consistent form, so validation checks can be applied to ensure data is accurate as it is input.
Faster to enter/type in.
Search query is faster.

Question 6

What are two problems with encoding data?

Answer 6

Coding sometimes involves subjective judgements (‘Value judgements’). For example, a restaurant could get a 5-star review, but another reviewer might give it only 2 stars.
Coding sometimes involves loss of information because categories are too coarse. For example, coding hair colour as ‘brown’ would include a wide range of shades from light to dark.