Data vs Information

Difference between Data and Information

Data

Data is/are the facts of the World. For example, take yourself. You may be 5ft tall, have brown hair and blue eyes. All of this is "data". You have brown hair whether this is written down somewhere or not.

In many ways, data can be thought of as a description of the World. We can detect this data with our senses, and then the brain can process this.

Human beings have used data as long as they existed, and animals still do.

Until we started using information, all we could use was data. If you wanted to know how tall I was, you would have to come and look at me. Our knowledge was limited by our direct experiences.

Information

Information allows us to expand our knowledge beyond the range of our senses. We can capture data in information, then move it about so that other people can see it at different times.

Here is a simple analogy for you.

If I take a picture of you, the photograph is information. But what you look like is data.

I can move the photo of you around, send it to other people via e-mail etc. However, I'm not actually moving you around - or what you look like. I'm simply allowing other people who can't directly see you from where they are to know what you look like.

Below are main differences between them.

• data is form of raw facts and figures
• information is a processed data

• data can be collected in unsequenced form
• while information would automatically in a meaningfull presentation

• computer works on complete and thorough information
• computer annot differ in unsequenced data figures

• there is no way to manipulate process raw data at discrete/ hardware level in the computing machine
• computing machine needs the proper and understandable way of communicating and presenting data to share information

• at last data simply un understandable
• while information is complete image of understandable data