DATA AND INFORMATION JS1 (1ST TERM)

DATA AND INFORMATION

Definition of Data

Data are raw facts. They are figures, words and symbols that have not been processed or put into meaningful form. Data can be referred to as raw material from which information is produced.

 Types of data

1.  Numeric data: Data consisting of digits and not letters of alphabets or special character. E.g. 0 – 9

2.  Alphabetic data: Data consisting of letters and not digits or special characters. A-Z and a-z

3.  Alpha-numeric data: Data consisting of digits, alphabets as well special characters. Ussm12, #, !, ?, etc.

 Sources of data

Data could be gathered or collected from various sources. Some of the sources include the following:

1.          Federal Office of Statistics (FOS)

2.          National Population Commission (NPC)

3.          Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

4.          National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA)

5.          Examination Bodies: like the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination Commission (NECO)

6.          Schools Attendance Register

7.          Bank Statements

The sources are discussed below:

 1.          Federal Office of Statistics (FOS): data that could be collected from this source include exchange rates, inflation rates, mortality rates, morbidity rates etc.

2.          National Population Commission (NPC): data could be collected from NPC include overall population figure of the country, population figures of the different states in the country and population figures of different local government etc.

3.          Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC): voter’s registration figures for the country as well as those for each states and local governments could be collected from INEC.

4.          National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA): data that could be collected from NACA include; data about HIV/AIDS prevalent rates, figures about HIV/AIDS reduction rates, figures about government spending on HIV/AIDS over a period of time etc.

5.          Examination Bodies: like the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examination Commission (NECO). Data that could be collected from these bodies include; enrollment figures for the examinations for a specific period, pass and failure rates in the examinations and malpractices figures per state for a given year etc.

6.          Schools Attendance Register: data that could be gathered from a school’s attendance register include; list of students in roll, students’ attendance rates, students’ absence rates etc.

7.          Bank Statements: data that could be collected from a bank statement include; account balances, list of withdrawals, list of deposits etc.

Definition of Information

Information is processed data. That is, the data that has been processed into a meaningful form.

Information is the result of a processed data.

Information could also be the knowledge that is passed from one person to another. The person who gives the information is the informant.

Sources of information

Information could be gathered from different sources. Some of the sources of information include the following:

i.   Radio

ii.  Television

iii. Newspaper

iv. Computer

 Also read Historical Development of Computers

Examples of information are:

-  Number

-  Graphics

-  Receipt of payment, etc.

Some of the above sources of information has been discussed earlier, so we are going to explain on the Newspaper

=> Newspaper: These are printed materials that are used to feed the masses with timely and appropriate information. It is a set or large folder sheets of papers used to transmit news, articles, pictures, vacancies, etc.