Information Revision

• What we mean by data, information and knowledge

• How data are captured

• The quality of data

• Problems with encoding

• The cost of keeping information up-to-date

Information and Data• Data are (i.e. data is plural) recorded:

– Facts

– Events

– Measurements

– Transactions

• Information has:

– Meaning…

– And the meaning is derived from the context or processing applied to the data

Knowledge• Every day we use our experience or understanding of

the way things work to interpret and act upon data and information

• This experience is known as knowledge

• Our knowledge enables us to form a set of rules to determine or predict what happens under different circumstances

• For example:

– IF you forget someone’s birthday THEN they will get upset

– IF the sky is dark AND you need to go outside THEN it would be best to take an umbrella

Access to Knowledge• Because computers are good at following rules (i.e.

programs), knowledge can be replicated by computer systems

• These are called knowledge bases or sometimes expert systems

• These are often used for medical or fault diagnosis, but can only suggest probably (rather than certain) causes, e.g.

– The NHS Direct Self Help Guide

– Windows Troubleshooting

Quality of Information

Good quality information is:

• Accurate

• Up-to-date

• Timely

• In the right level of detail

• Appropriately presented

Channels of information flow

Formal Channels:

• Memos/letters and group e-mails

• Formal meetings

• Intranets

• Notice boards

• Reports

Informal Channels

• Ad-hoc meetings

• Conversations

• Rumours

• Individual e-mails

Which is most reliable?

Information Sources• Organisations can develop their own information from data

generated in the course of day to day business transactions - sales figures, production statistics and so on.

• This would be described as internal data from a primary source.

• The Office for National Statistics and companies such as Dunn and Bradstreet can also provide specialist business data

• It is highly refined and organised and is presented in a manner appropriate to the client organisation.

• This would be described as external data from a secondary source

Cost• Producing and refining data into information is an

expensive business

• The more frequently the information changes, the more expensive it will be to maintain it

• What are cost and technical issues associated with obtaining information at different frequencies?

– What sort of organisation would require real-time or pseudo real-time processing?

– Who could use the less costly batch processing method?

Nature of Information• Some information is quantitative - sales figures,

passenger numbers or stock levels.

• Information can also be qualitative…

• For example, house buyers, house builders, furniture retailers and financial institutions depend on the predictions of organisations such as Institute of Chartered Surveyors or Halifax plc. in to the state of the housing market

• Clearly these are predictions rather than facts as no-one can say for sure what will happen

Gathering Information• It’s not possible to survey every member of a

particular target group (i.e. the people affected by the issue)

• It is there necessary to sample data - this means to select a representative section of that group.

• What would be a representative sample? One in a hundred people? A thousand people?

• What if ask one in every hundred people outside HMV in Cheltenham on a Thursday afternoon between 2.45 and 3.45 p.m. what they thought about pension? Would this be a representative sample?

Sampling• Imagine that you are in charge of organising and

managing a mass market research survey to find out purchasing habits of 25 to 30 year olds. You have the following issues to consider:

– Where should the survey take place and when?

– How many people should we ask?

– How many people do I need to employ to carry out the research?

– If we were to survey every 25 to 30 year old in the UK what would the cost implication be, could we process that amount of data?

Encoding

• Encoding is the process of storing the information gathered in a form suitable for processing on a computer.

• Would you just ask the 25-30 year-old What do you spend your money on?

• How many different answers do you think you’d get?

• What would be a more sensible approach? Would it have any drawbacks?

Another Example!• How would an information manager predict national Christmas tree

sales for next Christmas to assist a UK importer manage demand?

– by focussing upon Christmas tree sales last year?

– using information processed by a new Internet based information services company located in Austria?

– by using data related to the North West of England?

• And what would he or she do with the information?

– pass it to the company's Finance Manager?

– ... on a Tuesday in mid-December?

– Summarised on the back a picture postcard of the Munich Bierkellar?

– ...via the company's Catering Manager?

– ... in German?

Examiners’ Report• Students have been asked about the differences between data,

information and knowledge on many occasions. Unfortunately, many candidates did not get high marks, mainly for the following reasons.

– they did not give definitions or examples that recognised that data is plural (so that the use of a single number as an example of data cannot gain credit)

– they did not give examples in an ICT context.

– for knowledge, they gave examples which were based on the traffic light scenario i.e. knowledge means you know that if the light is green you can go through the traffic lights.

– few candidates could define knowledge in an ICT context. Some candidates defined it simply as: a set of rules, but did not say that these rules are applied to information. A good definition would be

• Knowledge is a set of rules and concepts that can be applied to information to gain understanding.

Examiners’ Report• The data definitions were particularly well expressed, although

many of the examples of data were given single values such as a telephone number or a date of birth. In some cases, no example was given at all.

• Information was sometimes described as, “data that was labelled to give it meaning.” These answers were unacceptable, as were examples that showed labelling.

• Answers must show an appreciation that data is processed in some way using ICT to provide information.

• Candidates seemed to find part describing knowledge difficult, and described it as the interpretation of information, rather than what allows people to interpret information and its use when making decisions. Many candidates defined it simply as a set of rules.

• Examples frequently had no relevance to ICT.