Quiz 4

Question 1

Data

Answer 1

Data are the raw facts, and may be devoid of context or intent.
Data can be quantitative or qualitative. Quantitative data is numeric, the result of a measurement, count, or some other mathematical calculation. Qualitative data is descriptive.

Question 2

Information

Answer 2

Information is processed data that possess context, relevance, and purpose.

Question 3

Knowledge

Answer 3

Knowledge in a certain area is human beliefs or perceptions about relationships among facts or concepts relevant to that area.
Knowledge can be viewed as information that facilitates action.

Question 4

Explicit vs tacit knowledge

Answer 4

Explicit knowledge typically refers to knowledge that can be expressed into words or numbers. In contrast, tacit knowledge includes insights and intuitions, and is difficult to transfer to another person by means of simple communications.

Question 5

Wisdom

Answer 5

We can say that someone has wisdom when they can combine their knowledge and experience to produce a deeper understanding of a topic.

Question 6

Information ladder

Answer 6

Data -> information -> knowledge -> wisdom

Question 7

Big data

Answer 7

The term refers to such massively large data sets that conventional data processing technologies do not have sufficient power to analyze them.

Question 8

Goal of information systems

Answer 8

The goal of many information systems is to transform data into information in order to generate knowledge that can be used for decision making. In order to do this, the system must be able to take data, allow the user to put the data into context, and provide tools for aggregation and analysis. A database is designed for just such a purpose.

Question 9

Common defects in data resources

Answer 9

(1) No control of redundant data
(2) Violation of data integrity
(3) Relying on human memory to store and to search needed data.

Question 10

Organized

Answer 10

A database is an organized collection of related data. It is an organized collection, because in a database, all data is described and associated with other data.

Question 11

Relational database

Answer 11

In a relational database, data is organized into tables (or relations). Each table has a set of fields which define the structure of the data stored in the table. A record is one instance of a set of fields in a table. To visualize this, think of the records as the rows (or tuple) of the table and the fields as the columns of the table.

Question 12

Primary key

Answer 12

A special filed or a combination of fields that determines the unique record is called primary key (or key).

Question 13

Foreign key

Answer 13

A relationship between two tables is implemented by using a foreign key. A foreign key is a field in one table that connects to the primary key data in the original table.

Question 14

Normalization

Answer 14

When designing a database, one important concept to understand is normalization. In simple terms, to normalize a database means to design it in a way that: 1) reduces data redundancy; and 2) ensure data integrity.

Question 15

Personal database management systems examples

Answer 15

Microsoft Access and Open Office Base are examples of personal database-management systems. These systems are primarily used to develop and analyze single-user databases. These databases are not meant to be shared across a network or the Internet, but are instead installed on a particular device and work with a single user at a time.

Question 16

Structured Query Language (SQL)

Answer 16

Almost all applications that work with databases (such as database management systems, discussed below) make use of SQL as a way to analyze and manipulate relational data. As its name implies, SQL is a language that can be used to work with a relational database.

NoSQL is looser, allowing for a more unstructured environment, communicating changes to the data over time to all the servers that are part of the database.

Question 17

Query by example (QBE)

Answer 17

a graphical query tool, to retrieve data though visualized commands. QBE generates SQL for you, and is easy to use. In comparison with SQL, QBE has limited functionalities and is unable to work without the DBMS environment.

Question 18

Relational databases do not scale well

Answer 18

As stated earlier, the relational database model does not scale well. The term scale here refers to a database getting larger and larger, being distributed on a larger number of computers connected via a network.

Question 19

Metadata

Answer 19

The term metadata can be understood as “data about data.” Examples of metadata of database are:
• number of records
• data type of field
• size of field
• description of field
• default value of field
• rules of use.
 When a database is being designed, a “data dictionary” is created to hold the metadata, defining the fields and structure of the database.

Question 20

Business intelligence

Answer 20

The term business intelligence is used to describe the process that organizations use to take data they are collecting and analyze it in the hopes of obtaining a competitive advantage.
Data visualization, data warehouses, data mining and machine learning

Question 21

Data Warehouse

Answer 21

A data warehouse is a set of databases designed to support decision making in an organization. It is structured for fast online queries and exploration. Data warehouses may aggregate enormous amounts of data from many different operational systems.

There are two primary schools of thought when designing a data warehouse: bottom-up and top-down. The bottom-up approach starts by creating small data warehouses, called data marts, to solve specific business problems. As these data marts are created, they can be combined into a larger data warehouse. The top- down approach suggests that we should start by creating an enterprise- wide data warehouse and then, as specific business needs are identified, create smaller data marts from the data warehouse.

Question 22

Data mining (and conditions)

Answer 22

Data mining is the process of analyzing data to find previously unknown and interesting trends, patterns, and associations in order to make decisions. Generally, data mining is accomplished through automated means against extremely large data sets, such as a data warehouse
For data mining to work, two critical conditions need to be present: (1) the organization must have clean, consistent data, and (2) the events in that data should reflect current and future trends.

Question 23

Supervised vs unsupervised machine learning

Answer 23

Supervised learning occurs when an organization has data about past activity that has occurred and wants to replicate it. It is called “supervised” learning because we are directing (supervising) the analysis towards a result (in our example: consumers who respond favorably). Supervised learning techniques include analyses such as decision trees, neural networks, classifiers, and logistic regression.

Unsupervised learning occurs when an organization has data and wants to understand the relationship(s) between different data points. Is it called “unsupervised” learning because no specific outcome is expected? Unsupervised learning techniques include clustering and association rules.

Question 24

Data brokers

Answer 24

These firms combine publicly accessible data with information obtained from the government and other sources to create vast warehouses of data about people and companies that they can then sell.

Question 25

Knowledge management

Answer 25

Knowledge management is the process of creating, formalizing the capture, indexing, storing, and sharing of the company’s knowledge in order to benefit from the experiences and insights that the company has captured during its existence.

Question 26

Analytics

Answer 26

a term describing the extensive use of data, statistical and quantitative analysis, explanatory and predictive models, and fact-based management to drive decisions and actions

Question 27

Loyalty card

Answer 27

Grocers and retailers can tie you to cash transactions if they can convince you to use a loyalty card. Use one of these cards and you’re in effect giving up information about yourself in exchange for some kind of financial incentive. The explosion in retailer cards is directly related to each firm’s desire to learn more about you and to turn you into a more loyal and satisfied customer.

Question 28

Data aggregators

Answer 28

Firms that trawl for data and package them up for resale are known as data aggregators. They include Acxiom, a $1.3 billion a year business that combines public source data on real estate, criminal records, and census reports, with private information from credit card applications, warranty card surveys, and magazine subscriptions.

Question 29

Legacy Systems

Answer 29

outdated information systems that were not designed to share data, aren’t compatible with newer technologies, and aren’t aligned with the firm’s current business needs

Question 30

data mart

Answer 30

A data mart is a database focused on addressing the concerns of a specific problem (e.g., increasing customer retention, improving product quality) or business unit (e.g., marketing, engineering).

Question 31

Once a firm has business goals and hoped-for payoffs clearly defined, it can address the broader issues needed to design, develop, deploy, and maintain its system:

Answer 31

• Data relevance. What data is needed to compete on analytics and to meet our current and future goals?
• Data sourcing. Can we even get the data we’ll need?
• Data quantity. How much data is needed?
• Data quality. Can our data be trusted as accurate?
• Data hosting. Where will the systems be housed?
• Data governance. What rules and processes are needed to manage data from its creation through its retirement?

Question 32

E-discovery

Answer 32

E- discovery refers to identifying and retrieving relevant electronic information to support litigation efforts. E-discovery is something a firm should account for in its archiving and data storage plans. Unlike analytics that promise a boost to the bottom line, there’s no profit in complying with a judge’s order—it’s just a sunk cost.

Question 33

Canned reports

Answer 33

provide regular summaries of information in a predetermined format. They’re often developed by information systems staff and formats can be difficult to alter.

Question 34

ad hoc reporting tools

Answer 34

ad hoc reporting tools allow users to dive in and create their own reports, selecting fields, ranges, and other parameters to build their own reports on the fly.

Question 35

Dashboard

Answer 35

Dashboards provide a sort of heads-up display of critical indicators, letting managers get a graphical glance at key performance metrics.

Question 36

Online analytical processing (OLAP)

Answer 36

A subcategory of reporting tools is referred to as online analytical processing (OLAP)
Data used in OLAP reporting is usually sourced from standard relational databases, but it’s calculated and summarized in advance, across multiple dimensions, with the data stored in a special database called a data cube. This extra setup step makes OLAP fast (sometimes one thousand times faster than performing comparable queries against conventional relational databases). Given this kind of speed boost, it’s not surprising that data cubes for OLAP access are often part of a firm’s data mart and data warehouse efforts.

Question 37

3 critical skills

Answer 37

information technology (for understanding how to pull together data, and for selecting analysis tools), 
statistics (for building models and interpreting the strength and validity of results), 
and business knowledge (for helping set system goals, requirements, and offering deeper insight into what the data really says about the firm’s operating environment). Miss one of these key functions and your team could make some major mistakes.

Question 38

Walmarts retail link

Answer 38

Each time an item is scanned by a Wal-Mart cash register, Retail Link not only records the sale, it also automatically triggers inventory reordering, scheduling, and delivery. This process keeps shelves stocked, while keeping inventories at a minimum.

Question 39

Customer lifeline value (CLV)

Answer 39

CLV represents the present value of the likely future income stream generated by an individual purchaser . Once you know this, you can get a sense of how much you should spend to keep that customer coming back. You can size them up next to their peer group and if they fall below expectations you can develop strategies to improve their spending.

Question 40

Free rider problem

Answer 40

where users benefit from a service while offering no value in exchange. Encouraging software and service partners to accept ads for a percentage of the cut could lessen the free rider problem

Question 41

RSS

Answer 41

RSS (an acronym that stands for both “really simple syndication” and “rich site summary”) enables busy users to scan the headlines of newly available content and click on an item’s title to view items of interest, thus sparing them from having to continually visit sites to find out what’s new. Users begin by subscribing to an RSS feed for a Web site, blog, podcast, or other data source. The title or headline of any new content will then show up in an RSS reader.

Question 42

Folksononomies

Answer 42

Folksonomies (sometimes referred to as social tagging) are keyword-based classification systems created by user communities as they generate and review content. (The label is meant to refer to a people-powered taxonomy.)

Question 43

Mash-ups

Answer 43

Mash-ups are combinations of two or more technologies or data feeds into a single, integrated tool. Some of the best known mash-ups leverage Google’s mapping tools. HousingMaps.com combines Craigslist.org listings with Google Maps for a map-based display for apartment hunters.

Question 44

XML

Answer 44

Mash-ups are made easy by a tagging system called XML (for extensible markup language). Site owners publish the parameters of XML data feeds that a service can accept or offer (e.g., an address, price, product descriptions, images).

Question 45

Virtual worlds and augmented reality

Answer 45

In virtual worlds, users appear in a computer-generated environment in the form of an avatar, or animated character. Users can customize the look of their avatar, interact with others by typing or voice chat, and can travel about the virtual world by flying, teleporting, or more conventional means.

Question 46

Rich media

Answer 46

Much of this rich media content can be distributed or streamed within another Web site, blog, or social network profile.
Internet media is increasingly becoming “richer,” leveraging audio, video, and animation. Organizations and users are creating and distributing rich media online, with interesting content spreading virally.

Question 47

Wisdom of crowds

Answer 47

In this concept, a group of individuals (the crowd often consists mostly of untrained amateurs), collectively has more insight than a single or small group of trained professionals. Made popular by author James Surowiecki (whose best- selling book was named after the phenomenon), the idea of crowd wisdom is at the heart of wikis, folksonomy tagging systems, and many other online efforts.

Question 48

Prediction market

Answer 48

One technique for leveraging the wisdom of crowds is a prediction market, where a diverse crowd is polled and opinions aggregated to form a forecast of an eventual outcome.
• Prediction markets tap crowd opinion with results that are often more accurate than the most accurate expert forecasts and estimates.
• Prediction markets are most accurate when tapping the wisdom of a diverse and variously skilled and experienced group, and are least accurate when participants are highly similar.

Question 49

For a crowd to be smart:

Answer 49

be diverse, so that participants are bringing different pieces of information to the table,
• be decentralized, so that no one at the top is dictating the crowd’s answer,
• offer a collective verdict that summarizes participant opinions,
• be independent, so that each focuses on information rather than the opinions of others.

Question 50

Crowdsourcing

Answer 50

Offer it up to the crowd and see if any of their wisdom offers a decent result. This phenomenon, known as crowdsourcing, has been defined as “the act of taking a job traditionally performed by a designated agent (usually an employee) and outsourcing it to an undefined, generally large group of people in the form of an open call”

Question 51

SMART

Answer 51

social media awareness and response team
Firms need to treat social media engagement as a key corporate function with clear and recognizable leadership within the organization.
Most guidelines emphasize the “three Rs”: representation, responsibility, and respect. Remember, a fourth “R” is at stake—reputation (both the firm’s and the employee’s).
SMART includes creating the social media team, establishing firmwide policies, monitoring activity inside and outside the firm, establishing the social media presence, and managing social media engagement and response.

Question 52

Sock puppets and astroturfing

Answer 52

Fake personas set up to sing your own praises are known as sock puppets among the digerati, and the practice of lining comment and feedback forums with positive feedback is known as astroturfing

Question 53

Online reputation management

Answer 53

Firms specializing in this field will track a client firm’s name, brand, executives’ names, or other keywords, reporting online activity and whether sentiment trends toward the positive or negative.

Question 54

Embassy approach

Answer 54

Many firms take an embassy approach to social media, establishing presence at various services with a consistent name. Think facebook.com/starbucks, twitter.com/starbucks, youtube.com/starbucks, flickr.com/starbucks, and so on

Question 55

4 M’s of engagement

Answer 55

it’s a megaphone allowing for outbound communication; it’s a magnet drawing communities inward for conversation; and it allows for monitoring and mediation of existing conversations

Question 56

Trackbacks and blog rolls

Answer 56

Trackbacks (third-party links back to original blog post), and blog rolls (a list of a blogger’s favorite sites—a sort of shout-out to blogging peers) also help distinguish and reinforce the reputation of widely read blogs.

long tail phenomenon, loaded with niche content that remains “discoverable” through search engines and blog indexes

Question 57

wikimasters

Answer 57

Some organizations employ wikimasters to “garden” community content; “prune” excessive posts, “transplant” commentary to the best location, and “weed” as necessary.