- Definition
Data – raw, disparate facts pertaining to an object or subject in focus.
Information – refined processed data stringed together with context - Content
Data – text, number, blobs
Information – contextual text numbers and blobs to form meaningful data - Creation
Data – by a collection of facts and observations
Information – by analysis of collected data - Form
Data – unorganized
Information – organized - Usefulness
Data – useful as input for further processing, but mostly meaningless when taken independently
Information – useful, and is used as input in decision making and process development - Specific
Data – not specific, has degree of randomness
Information – specific to subject and context - Dependency
Data – independent, serves as “axioms”, and as starting points for further processing
Information – dependent on data; data serves as input for information
Example:
Census data is collected as raw facts of gender, date of birth, zip code etc.
Data here would be millions of records of the form:
Female, 01/01/1950, 33574
Male, 08/30/1076, 84732 etc.
This data is processed and the following types of information can be gleaned-
% of women in the population
% of men above the age of 75
Population in the zip code 33574
% increase/decrease of women in the zip code 33574
This information can then serve as input in helping to make decisions involving demography-based policies.
So,
DATA -> INFORMATION -> KNOWLEDGE (to assist in decision-making)