Right Side Long

Home Blog Categories  About Us  

Ad In-Database Machine Learning x

LEARN MORE 

x
Blog Home » Data and Information: De nition, Characteristics, Types, Channels, Approaches

Data and Information: Definition,

Characteristics, Types, Channels, Approaches
 Vikash Kumar -  29 May 2021 -  Computer Science -  0 Comments

report this ad

Search

Categories

Anthropology

Business Environment

Class 12

Commerce

Commerce Class 11

Commerce Class 12

Communication

Computer Science

Economics

Geography
Data and Information

Human Resource Management

What is Data and Information? Indian Economy Class 12

Journalism
Data: The raw material of organizational life; consists of disconnected numbers, words, symbols,
Linguistic Anthropology
and syllables relating to the events and processes of the business.
Macroeconomics Class 12 Notes

Information: For data to become information, it must be contextualized, categorized, calculated,

Marketing Management
and condensed. The information thus paints a bigger picture; it is data with relevance and
Soft Skills
purpose. It may convey a trend in the environment, or perhaps indicate a pattern of sales for a
Uncategorized
given period of time.

Essentially information is found “in answers to questions that begin with such words as who,
what, where, when, and how many”.

Contents [hide]

1 What is Data and Information?

2 De nition of Data
3 De nition of Information
4 Characteristics of Data
4.1 Accuracy
4.2 Validity
4.3 Reliability
4.4 Timeliness
4.5 Relevance
4.6 Completeness
5 Data Processing
5.1 Data Process
5.2 Types of Data
5.3 Data Processing Cycle
5.4 Data Processing Activities
6 What is information?
7 Information Channels
7.1 Formal or Informal
7.2 Value of Information
7.3 Good Quality Information
7.4 Communication
8 FAQ About Data and Information
8.1 What is difference between data and information?
8.2 What is the simple de nition of data?
8.3 How do you describe information?
8.4 What are the six characteristics of data?
8.5 What are the 5 stages of data processing cycle?

De nition of Data
Data can be de ned as a representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized
manner, which should be suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by human or
electronic machines.

De nition of Information
Information is organized or classi ed data, which has some meaningful values for the receiver.
Information is the processed data on which decisions and actions are based.

Build 100% Reliable Data

Flows
Set up reliable data flows quickly from
150+ sources to dashboarding apps or
warehouses.

Dataddo

Open

Characteristics of Data
The following are six key characteristics of data which discussed below:

1. Accuracy
2. Validity
3. Reliability
4. Timeliness
5. Relevance
6. Completeness

Characteristics of Data

Accuracy
Data should be suf ciently accurate for the intended use and should be captured only once,
although it may have multiple uses. Data should be captured at the point of activity.

Validity
Data should be recorded and used in compliance with relevant requirements, including the correct
application of any rules or de nitions. This will ensure consistency between periods and with
similar organizations, measuring what is intended to be measured.

Reliability
Data should re ect stable and consistent data collection processes across collection points and
over time. Progress toward performance targets should re ect real changes rather than
variations in data collection approaches or methods. Source data is clearly identi ed and readily
available from manual, automated, or other systems and records.

Timeliness
Data should be captured as quickly as possible after the event or activity and must be available
for the intended use within a reasonable time period. Data must be available quickly and
frequently enough to support information needs and to in uence service or management
decisions.

Relevance
Data captured should be relevant to the purposes for which it is to be used. This will require a
periodic review of requirements to re ect changing needs.

Completeness
Data requirements should be clearly speci ed based on the information needs of the organization
and data collection processes matched to these requirements.

Data Processing
Here we look at an overview of data processing:

1. Data Process
2. Types of Data
3. Data Processing Cycle
4. Data Processing Activities

Data Processing

Data Process
Data processing is the computer process that converts data into information. The processing is
usually assumed to be automated and running on a mainframe, minicomputer, microcomputer, or
personal computer.

Data processing systems typically manipulate raw data into information, and likewise,
information systems typically take raw data as input to produce information as output.

In the context of data processing, data are de ned as numbers or characters that represent
measurements from the real world.

Types of Data
Five types of data are stored and processed by computers. They are:

1. Text which consists of strings of characters.

2. Numbers.
3. Audio, namely speech, and music.
4. Pictures – monochrome and color.
5. Video which is sequence of pictures such as movies or animation. Usually, video data has
an accompanying soundtrack which is synchronized with the pictures.

Data Processing Cycle

Data processing is the re-structuring or re-ordering of data to increase their usefulness & add
values for particular purpose. The data processing activities described above are common to all
data processing systems from manual to electronic systems.

Data Processing cycle activities can be grouped into four functional categories:

1. Data Input
2. Data Processing
3. Data Output
4. Storage
5. Constituting

what is known as a data processing cycle?

Data Processing Activities

Data processing consists of those activities which are necessary to transform data into
information. Man has in course of time devised certain tools to help him in processing data. These
include;

1. Manual tools: such as pencil and paper.

2. Mechanical tools: such as ling cabinets.
3. Electromechanical tools: such as adding machines and typewriters.
4. Electronic tools: such as Calculators and computers.

Many people immediately associate data processing with computers. As stated above, a
computer is not the only tool used for data processing; it can be done without computers also.
However, computers have outperformed people for certain tasks.

What is information?
Information can be de ned as “data that has been transformed into a meaningful and useful form
for speci c purposes”. Information is data that has been processed to make it meaningful and
useful.

Information is the meaning that a human assigns to data by means of the known conventions
used in its representation. (Holmes, 2001). Information is produced through processing,
manipulating, and organizing data to answer questions, adding to the knowledge of the receiver.

Information can be about facts, things, concepts, or anything relevant to the topic concerned. It
may provide answers to questions like who, which, when, why, what, and how.

If we put Information into an equation it would look like this:

Data + Meaning = Information

There is no hard and fast rule for determining when data becomes information. A set of letters
and numbers may be meaningful to one person, but may have no meaning to another.
Information is identi ed and de ned by its users.

Example:

Looking at the examples given for data:

1. 3, 6, 9, 12
2. cat, dog, gerbil, rabbit, cockatoo

Only when we assign a context or meaning does the data become information. It all becomes
meaningful when we are told:

3, 6, 9 and 12 are the rst four answers in the 3 x table

cat, dog, gerbil, rabbit, cockatoo is a list of household pets

Information Channels
These are information channels which are below:

1. Formal or Informal
2. Value of Information
3. Good Quality Information
4. Communication

Information Channels

Formal or Informal
Formal channels are the of cial (or reliable!) ones, such as memos, letters, the company
noticeboard, etc.

Informal channels are the unof cial ones, such as of ce gossip, informal meetings, and rumours –
these can often be unreliable.

Value of Information
It is often said that we are in the information age, and that information is a valuable commodity.

Why is information valuable? Because:

It allows us to plan how to run our business more effectively – e.g. shops can stock what
customers want, when they want it, and manufacturers can anticipate demand.
Marketing materials can be targeted at people and customers that you know could be
interested in your products and services.
This can lead to increased customer satisfaction and therefore pro t.

Good Quality Information

The characteristics of good quality information, it should be:

1. Accurate
2. Up-to-date
3. Relevant
4. Complete
5. On-time
6. Appropriately presented
7. Intelligible

Communication
Communication is the process by which a message or information is exchanged from a sender to
a receiver. For example, a production manager (sender) may send a message to a sales manager
(receiver) asking for sales forecasts for the next 6 months so they can plan production levels. The
sales manager would then reply (feedback) to the production manager with the appropriate
gures.

Communication is the sharing of information.

Communication is the giving and receiving of messages.
Communication is the transfer of information from one or more people to one or more other
people.

The rst of these three de nitions is the simplest, and also the broadest. Because of those
qualities, it is also a little nonspeci c. The second de nition reminds us that information, here
called a message, must be received, as well as sent, to complete the process.

The goal of communication is to convey information—and the understanding of that information

—from one person or group to another person or group.

This communication process is divided into three basic components:

A sender transmits a message through a channel to the receiver.

The sender rst develops an idea, which is composed into a message and then transmitted to the
other party, who interprets the message and receives meaning.

FAQ About Data and Information

What is difference between data and information?
Data: The raw material of organizational life; it consists of disconnected numbers, words,
symbols, and syllables relating to the events and processes of the business. Information: For data
to become information, it must be contextualized, categorized, calculated, and condensed. The
information thus paints a bigger picture; it is data with relevance and purpose. It may convey a
trend in the environment, or perhaps indicate a pattern of sales for a given period of time.

What is the simple de nition of data?

Data can be de ned as a representation of facts, concepts, or instructions in a formalized
manner, which should be suitable for communication, interpretation, or processing by human or
electronic machines.

How do you describe information?

Information is organized or classi ed data, which has some meaningful values for the receiver.
Information is the processed data on which decisions and actions are based.

What are the six characteristics of data?

The following are six key characteristics of data: 1.Accuracy, 2.Validity, 3.Reliability, 4.Timeliness,
5.Relevance, 6.Completeness.

What are the 5 stages of data processing cycle?

Data Processing cycle activities can be grouped into four functional categories: 1.Data Input,
2.Data Processing, 3.Data Output, 4.Storage, 5.Constituting.

Share via:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Mix Email Print Copy Link

More

TAGS: APPROACHES OF INFORMATION, CHARACTERISTICS OF DATA, DATA PROCESSING, DATA PROCESSING ACTIVITIES, DATA PROCESSING
CYCLE, DEFINITION OF DATA, DEFINITION OF INFORMATION, INFORMATION CHANNELS, TYPES OF DATA, WHAT IS DATA AND INFORMATION?,
WHAT IS INFORMATION?

 YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Data Representation in
Computer: Number Systems,
Characters, Audio, Image and
Video
 16 July 2021

What is Debugging? Types of

What is Arti cial
Errors
Intelligence? Functions, 6
 9 June 2021
Bene ts, Applications of AI
 5 June 2021

Leave a Reply
Your comment here...

Name (required) Email (required) Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

POST COMMENT

report this ad

Copyright - OceanWP Theme by OceanWP