Information Management CH4

Question 1

What is the difference between data, information, and knowledge?

Answer 1

Data are the raw bits and pieces of facts and statistics with no context. Data can be quantitative or qualitative. Information is data that has been given context. Knowledge is information that has been aggregated and analyzed and can be used for making decisions.

Question 2

Explain in your own words how the data component relates to the hardware and software components of information systems.

Answer 2

1. Data is processed by the hardware via software.
2. A database is software that runs on the hardware.
3. Hardware stores the data, software processes the data

Question 3

What is the difference between quantitative data and qualitative data? In what situations could the number 42 be considered qualitative data?

Answer 3

Quantitative data is numeric, the result of a measurement, count, or some other mathematical calculation. Qualitative data is descriptive. The number 42 could be qualitative if it is a designation instead of a measurement, count, or calculation. For example: that player’s jersey has number 42 on it.

Question 4

What are the characteristics of a relational database?

Answer 4

• one or more tables
• each table has a set of fields
• a record is one instance of a set of fields
• all tables are related by one or more fields in common

Question 5

When would using a personal DBMS make sense?

Answer 5

When working on a smaller database for personal use, or when disconnected from the network.

Question 6

What is the difference between a spreadsheet and a database? List three differences between them.

Answer 6

A database is generally more powerful and complex than a spreadsheet, with the ability to handle multiple types of data and link them together. Some differences: A database has defined field types, a spreadsheet does not. A database uses a standardized query language (such as SQL), a spreadsheet does not. A database can hold much larger amounts of data than a spreadsheet.

Question 7

Describe what the term normalization means.

Answer 7

To normalize a database means to design it in a way that: 1) reduces duplication of data between tables and 2) gives the table as much flexibility as possible.

Question 8

Why is it important to define the data type of a field when designing a relational database?

Answer 8

A data type tells the database what functions can be performed with the data. The second important reason to define the data type is so that the proper amount of storage space is allocated for the data

Question 9

Name a database you interact with frequently. What would some of the field names be?

Answer 9

The student can choose any sort of system that they interact with, such as Amazon or their school’s online systems. The fields would be the names of data being collected, such as “first name”, or “address”.

Question 10

What is metadata?

Answer 10

Metadata is data about data. It refers to the data used to describe other data, such as the length of a song in iTunes, which describes the music file.

Question 11

Name three advantages of using a data warehouse.

Answer 11

i. The process of developing a data warehouse forces an organization to better understand the data that it is currently collecting and, equally important, what data is not being collected.
ii. A data warehouse provides a centralized view of all data being collected across the enterprise and provides a means of determining data that is inconsistent.
iii. Once all data is identified as consistent, an organization can generate one version of the truth. This is important when the company wants to report consistent statistics about itself, such as revenue or number of employees.
iv. By having a data warehouse, snapshots of data can be taken over time. This creates a historical record of data, which allows for an analysis of trends.
v. A data warehouse provides tools to combine data, which can provide new information and analysis.

Question 12

What is data mining?

Answer 12

Data mining is the process of analyzing data to find previously unknown trends, patterns, and associations in order to make decisions.

Question 13

what are the two types of DBMS?

Answer 13

Personal (one user) and Enterprise (multiple users)

Question 14

what are advantages of DBMS?

Answer 14

1. Makes data efficient and effective
2. Data inconsistency is reduced (one change will change everthing to the same)
3. Possible to produce quick answers

Question 15

What are the types of databases?

Answer 15

1. Transactional (ERP,SAP)

2. Data warehouse (stores data to generate information for strategic decisions)

Question 16

why is a well structured database important?

Answer 16

A well structured database is important for decision making. A bad database leads to poor decisions

Question 17

What is business intelligence?

Answer 17

the process that organizations use to take data they are collecting and analyze it in the hopes of obtaining a competitive advantage.

Question 18

What is business analytics?

Answer 18

the use of internal company data to improve business processes and practices.

Question 19

What is knowledge management?

Answer 19

the process of formalizing the capture, indexing, and storing of the company’s knowledge to benefit from the experiences and insights that the company has captured during its existence.

Question 20

What are the three types of relationship degrees

Answer 20

Unary (1 entity)
Binary (2 entity’s)
Ternary (3 entity’s)

Question 21

What are the 5 v’s of Big Data

Answer 21

Volume
Velocity
Variety 
Value
Veracity