You have noticed that several people use data and information as a synonym. But actually, there is a difference between data and information. How? Let’s take an example:
“As per a medical report, 120/80 mmHg blood pressure ranges in a healthy body’s BP.”– statement 1. ” Enna’s BP reading is 120/80 on date 15/04/2021.” – statement 2.
Both statements might look similar. But wait! Statement 1 is the data, and statement 2 is the information.
Confused?
Don’t worry. Below is a guide that helps you understand the difference between data and information. And where you should use data and where to use information.
Apart from this, I have mentioned suitable examples to understand the difference. So, dive into the details of data and information.
Overview of data and information
Table of Contents
Data
Data considers as an unorganized and raw fact that must be arranged in a meaningful manner. It can be simple if it is organized in a better way. Moreover, the data can interpret by a machine or a human to make it meaningful.
| Note: Data comprises observations, numbers, symbols, statements, facts, perceptions, characters, and so on. |
Information
It is a set of organized data and managed as per the specified requirements. Information is structured, processed, or presented in a particular context to make it useful and meaningful.
Apart from this, information is the processed data that possess relevance, context, and purpose. Information also includes the manipulation of raw data.
| Note: Information provides meaning to the raw data, and it also increases the reliability of the given data. It also helps to reduce the uncertainty of the data and ensure undesirability. Therefore, it is easy to say that it eliminates the useless details when the data is changed into information. |
Let’s take a look at the examples of data and information!
| Example of Data | Example of information |
| Data of the particular city, state, country’s citizens: The data is collected of all the citizens during the census. | Merit list: The merit list is calculated as per each student’s obtained marks. And the name of the students arranges in descending order—this considers as the information of merit students. |
| Students exam data: During the examination, the students’ details of average marks are known as data. | Result cards: The total marks obtained by a student consider as the information about the particular student. |
| Students’ details on admission forms: During the admissions, the students provided details taken to be the data. | Students’ address labels: The data stored in the college admission file is taken as the information that is used for students’ address labels. |
| Survey Data: Several companies gather data with the help of surveys to understand their customers’ opinions about the particular product. | Survey results: When the survey data is concluded into the results to represent it as a report to the management, it is called information. |
What is the difference between data and information?
| Parameters | Data | Information |
| Etymology | The word “data” taken from the Latin word datum, which means “giving something.” As time runs, “data” became the plural form of datum. | Information word originated from middle English and old French. The information meaning is the “act of informing.” It is commonly used in the field of communications and education. |
| Description | Data is Quantitative or Qualitative Variables that help to generate conclusions or ideas. | Information is the group of data, which provides meaning and news. |
| Format | Data include letters, numbers, or a set of characters. | Information can provide inferences and ideas. |
| Meaning | Data does not have a particular goal. | It conveys the meaning, which is assigned by evaluating data. |
| Representation | Data might be in data tree, tabular form, structured, graph, etc. | Information can represent in the form of ideas, language, and thoughts based on provided data. |
| Feature | Data is raw and in a single unit. It doesn’t possess any meaning if it is not structured. | Information is the group of data and the product that is combined to provide a logical meaning. |
| Interrelation | Data is the detail that is collected. | Information that can be processed. |
| Measuring unit | It is measured in bytes and bits. | It is measured in meaningful units such as quantity, time, etc. |
| Dependence | It does not depend on Information. | It depends on Data. |
| Contains | Unprocessed raw parameter. | It is prepared in a meaningful manner. |
| Support for Decision making | It does not support decision-making. | It generally supports decision-making. |
| Characteristic | Data considers as a property of an organization and is not accessible to the public. | Information is accessible to the public. |
| Knowledge level | Data is a low-level knowledge. | Information considers as the second level of knowledge. |
| Significance | Data solely has no significance. | Information is meaningful by itself. |
| Usefulness | The data gathered by the researcher might or might not be beneficial. | Information is valuable and useful as it is immediately available to the researcher for application. |
Difference between Data and Information as per different disciplines
In terms of computer
| Data considers as the input in terms of computers. Moreover, it is used to instruct the computer about what to do and what to save. | Information is the output of the data. It is used to instruct the computer about how the data is processed and which approach is the best to do it. |
In terms of statistics
| Data is defined as the raw information. But in statistics, data is mainly considered at the place of information. Statistics are used to interpret and conclude the data. |
In terms of Business
| Data is treated to be raw numbers in business. | Information is a combination of particular data types and points. It is used to understand the measurements. |
BONUS:
List of best tools for data collection with distinct approaches
| Data Collection Approach | Tools Used |
| Case Studies | Grammarly,Encyclopedia,Quetext. |
| Checklists | Checkli,Canva,Forgett. |
| Focus Groups | Learning Space Toolkit |
| Usage Data | Suma |
| Interviews | Sony ICD ux560 |
| Surveys | Zoho Survey,Google Forms. |
List of best tools for data analyses to get information
| Data Analysis Tools | Purpose To Use |
| MonkeyLearn | Implement no-code text analysis. |
| KNIME | Perform data science workflows. |
| Excel | Utilize powerful formulas for data analysis. |
| Power BI | Analyze results in real-time. |
| ClicData | Combine data to develop interactive dashboards. |
| Python | For machine learning. |
| SAS Business Intelligence | Visualizations that are easy to understand. |
| SQL Programming Language | Organize structured data. |
| RapidMiner | Create predictive analytical models. |
| Talend | Gather data in a singular platform. |
| Airtable | Part database, part spreadsheet. |
| Tableau | Visualize obtained results in style. |
| R Programming Language | Used for exploratory data analysis. |
| Qlik | Implement in-memory data processing. |
| Looker | Modified analytics solutions. |
Let’s test what you have understood in this blog!
Read the statements and answer whether it is data and information.
- 4441239977
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (A) it is data as it can be any phone number or address line. |
- The student’s average marks in the final exam.
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (B) it is information as it provides the details about a particular student’s average marks. |
- A person’s telephone number (444)123-9977.
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (B) it is information as it provides the contact details of a person. |
- Searching for the “funny cat videos” in the computer browser (search engine).
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (A) it is data as it provides as an input to the computer. |
- Each student’s homework and test grade in a particular class.
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (A) it is data as it provides details about students’ test grades. But it is not specifying who scored higher or lower in the class. |
- The list of search results comprises several funny cat videos available on the internet.
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (B) it is information as it is showing the result (output) of input or searched data. |
- The boiling and freezing points of water in Celsius and Fahrenheit.
(A) Data
(B) Information
| Correct Answer: (B) it is information as it gives the details about specific points (boiling and freezing point). |
Conclusion
It is always necessary that you must understand the difference between data and information. Otherwise, your viewpoint might not be clear to the readers. Moreover, understand the differences carefully as statistics treat both data and information as data only.
Apart from this, both can have a huge difference for different disciplines. If you are still unable to understand the difference and need someone to do my statistics homework comment in the below section. I will try my best to solve your data and information-related query.
