Today Justine discussed the difference between the terms data, information and knowledge. Data refers to mostly fact or findings of a particular subject, Information refers to a number of facts or data which correspond with the other in regards to a particular subject or topic and knowledge is described to be the overall idea of what has been instructed or found. Knowing how to distinguish between these terms becomes very useful for university studies. An assessment for example will often offer a question to be answered or a topic to be researched, the research part of your assessment is considered to be the collecting of data which are important facts, such as dates, statistics and so on. The part where you begin to develop a strategy of how your assessment piece will be formed refers to gathering information, after collecting the facts begin to place similar facts or data together and finally develop your own ideas and opinions from your own knowledge from things you already knew or have just learnt.
Workshop Summary
Task 1- Look into some online dictionaries and record the definitions you find for data, information and knowledge. Justine offered a link in case we got stuck with our search; I chose to search online dictionaries on both Google and Yahoo and below are my results.
DATA
Factual information: information, often in the form of facts or figures obtained from experiments or surveys, used as a basis for making calculations or drawing conclusions
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861671190
INFORMATION
Gathered facts: the collected facts and data about a specific subject.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861621211
KNOWLEDGE
All that can be known: all the information, facts, truths, and principles learned throughout time.
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861624343
Task 2- Create a Graphical representation of these terms, please see below for my interpretation of the relationship between the three terms.
Task 3- Briefly discuss how understanding the relationship between data, information and knowledge can assist you at University.
As mentioned in the lecture summary the data is the basis from which your topic is developed as all the important components are found through research. Information is developed through the analysis of the data and the linking of similar facts and ideas. Before you can begin to write your essay or report you need to develop an opinion and your own personal ideas and thoughts towards what you have researched. This is retrieved through your previous knowledge as well as what you have just learnt. All of these terms help to create the final product which should be a correlation of data, knowledge and information as a result of your research, analysis and personal input.
Task 4- List Five organisations which collect information from their clients and describe why they would do this. I have chosen to use organisations which I am familiar with and have experienced the daunting request of having to answer questions from them.
Five organisations include-
1- Census (Government survey) collect information which is related to the living arrangements of all Australian residents, I assume it is useful in informing the government on how the Australian people are living and whether changes need to be made.
2- Promotional marketers for associations such as (The lifesaving Club) collect information, I believe for two reasons. One is to encourage the public to purchase tickets for raffles in order to raise money for charity and the other I believe is to get access to peoples personal details, such as their address, email and contact details. This information is stored until they have further advertising or merchandise etc.... to sell or promote.
3- Tele-marketers such as those from (Telstra) who gather information about your monthly phone bill and what network you are with and so on, collect this information in order to assess the number of people who are not connected with them. Once they have asked you for the information they usually follow with "we would like to offer you a better deal", therefore the reason for them seeking the information is in order to persuade you to switch to their company as your telephone provider.
4- Video Easy collect information in order to keep track of who is renting videos, what kind of videos people prefer and also gathering address details helps the organisation to inform their customers of new movies and entertainment.
5- Centrelink collect numerous amounts of information in order to assess a persons financial circumstances, this is usually for people who seek money from the Government. The information Centrelink receives is vital in determining whether a person is eligible for the payment they request.
Summary of the Readings
The first reading on data, information and knowledge was a very smart interpretation of understanding the difference and connection between all three terms and wisdom. Using examples of describing an object to stimulating memory and thought whilst trying to determine the name of the object is exactly how researching data and analysis works. The second reading called Information Literacy contained some activities to test your knowledge and ways of interpreting the information you gather. There were a number of lessons on a number of topics such as the organisation of knowledge, citing your sources, to name a few and each was followed by a quiz. It was interesting that the results of my first attempt at the quiz were average; it was only after the second attempt that I received more correct answers, it was an interesting exercise. The final reading discussed how organisations such as supermarkets, libraries and telephone companies collect numerous amounts of data which do not seem important at the time, yet over a large period of time the relationship between the data is analysed and this is where information is found and discussed.
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