While working on a computer, we often come across two terms, data and information. Both the terms are used interchangeably by many people most of the time. However, they are not the same. Both of these have an important role in computing and there are significant differences between data and information. In a nutshell, data can be referred to as an unsystematic fact or description about something, whereas information can be referred to as a systematic and filtered form of data, which is meaningful. There are many other factors that can help distinguish data and information.
Before we compare data and information, let us first understand both with their brief definitions: Data is a collection of one or more values. These values are nothing meaningful, but raw, unstructured facts and descriptions such as characters, numbers, or any other data type. Generally, the data has no particular purpose and significance. The data is processed appropriately to make it meaningful otherwise it has little or no meaning to human beings. In other words, data are referred to as individual units of information. In computing, data is usually represented as bits and bytes, the basic units of information in the context of computer storage and processing. However, in the analytical process, it is denoted by variables. Moreover, the data is always interpreted by humans or machines to make it meaningful. Information is a set of organized or interpreted data that has already been processed in a meaningful manner according to given requirements. It is processed, structured, or presented in the desired context to make it meaningful and useful so that human beings can read, understand and use it. Information is processed data that includes data with context, relevance, and purpose, which helps to ensure undetectability and reduce uncertainty. Furthermore, it involves the manipulation of raw data. It generally provides context for the data and simplifies decision-making as well as improves the reliability of the data. Note: In a computer, the CPU is the brain where 'P' stands for processing or data processing. The fundamental purpose of a computer system is to process data into information.
Let us list down some of the major differences between data and information: • Data is a collection of unorganized facts in the form of text, numbers, symbols, etc. On the other hand, information is a structured or organized form of those facts in context. • Data does not have a specific purpose, whereas information has a purpose that is given while interpreting the data. • Data is a collective noun and it takes a singular form when treated as a single entity but it is plural when referring to individual objects. In contrast, information is an uncountable mass noun. • Data alone is not always useful, whereas information always is, if the data is processed appropriately. • In terms of dependencies, data does not depend on information. But, information depends on data and cannot exist without data. • The historical records for worldwide temperature readings for the past 100 years represent the data. If this data is organized and analyzed to conclude that global temperatures are increasing over time, it is information.
Let’s discuss the differences between Data and Information side by side with the help of the following comparison chart (in a tabular form):
The fundamental difference between data and information is that data is unstructured or unorganized information whereas information is processed data. In the field of computers, data is an input that is used to generate output, i.e., information. Data refers to the facts and details from which information is obtained. The data is not individually helpful unless extracted or interpreted. It's just some meaningless characters, numbers, symbols, etc. Furthermore, information has some meaning and can be useful to humans in some important ways, such as decision making, forecasting, etc. A computer can be referred to as a typical example of information. It uses various programming scripts, formulae, functions, and software tools to transform raw data into meaningful information. Let us now understand this in a practical way by assembling raw data into information: The following box represents some raw data where some random characters, numbers, and words are separated by commas. 1600, CA, Google, HQ, 94043, USA, Mountain, Parkway, Amphitheatre, View, 6502530000 Scroll ⇀ This is an example of data and it has no meaning. The following box represents the information where the raw data has been organized, interpreted, and formatted in a predefined parameter approach. Google HQ 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043, USA (650) 253-0000 Scroll ⇀ This is an example of information because the meaning of the data is quite clear here. It's easy for humans to interpret that it just creates a structure of contact information for Google Headquarters.
Even though data usually comes before information, it is not easy to define which one is more useful. For instance, if the data is processed in a biased manner or incorrectly, the information obtained will not be useful. However, the data will still be useful because we can process it again in an appropriate way and get the desired information. The above explanation separates data from information. According to this, we can conclude that data is an unorganized description of raw facts or values from which information can be extracted/ interpreted in an organized and meaningful manner. What others reading: |