Data
{{otheruses}}
{{redirect|Datum}}
'''Data''' (singular: '''datum''') are collected of natural phenomena descriptors including the results of [[experience]], [[observation]] or [[experiment]], or a set of [[premise]]s. This may consist of [[number]]s, [[word]]s, or [[image]]s, particularly as [[measurement]]s or observations of a set of [[variable]]s.

==Etymology==
The word ''data ''is the plural of [[Latin]] ''[[datum]]'', [[Grammatical gender|neuter]] past [[participle]] of ''dare'', "to give", hence "something given". The [[past participle]] of "to give" has been used for millennia, in the sense of a statement accepted at face value; one of the works of [[Euclid]], circa 300 BC, was the ''Dedomena'' (in Latin, ''Data''). In discussions of problems in [[geometry]], [[mathematics]], [[engineering]], and so on, the terms ''givens'' and ''data'' are used interchangeably. Such usage is the origin of ''data'' as a concept in [[computer science]]:'' ''data'' ''are numbers, words, images, etc., accepted as they stand. Pronounced dey-tuh, dat-uh, or dah-tuh.''

[[Experimental data]] are data generated within the context of a scientific investigation. Mathematically, data can be grouped in many ways.

==Usage in English==
In [[English language|English]], the word ''datum'' is still used in the general sense of "something given", and more specifically in [[cartography]], [[geography]], [[geology]], [[NMR]] and [[technical drawing|drafting]] to mean a reference point, reference line, or reference surface. More generally speaking, any measurement or result can be called a (single) ''datum'', but ''data point'' is more common<ref>http://www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/DeafStudiesTeaching/dissert/Writing%20Reports.htm</ref>. Both ''datums'' (see usage in [[datum]] article) and the originally Latin plural ''data'' are used as the plural of ''datum'' in English, but ''data'' is more commonly treated as a [[mass noun]] and used in the [[Grammatical number|singular]], especially in day-to-day usage. For example, "This is all the data from the experiment".  This usage is inconsistent with the rules of Latin grammar and traditional English{{Fact|date=July 2008}}, which would instead suggest "These are all the data from the experiment". Some British and UN academic, scientific, and professional [[style guides]] (e.g., see page 43 of the [http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2004/WHO_IMD_PUB_04.1.pdf World Health Organization Style Guide]) request that authors treat ''data'' as a plural noun. Other international organization, such as the IEEE computing society <ref>http://www.computer.org/portal/site/ieeecs/menuitem.c5efb9b8ade9096b8a9ca0108bcd45f3/index.jsp?&pName=ieeecs_level1&path=ieeecs/publications/author/style&file=def.xml&xsl=generic.xsl&</ref>, allow its usage as either a mass noun or plural based on author preference. It is now usually treated as a singular mass noun in informal usage, but usage in scientific publications shows a strong UK/U.S divide. U.S. usage tends to treat ''data'' in the singular, including in serious and academic publishing, although some major newspapers (such as the [[New York Times]]) regularly use it in the plural. "The plural usage is still common, as this headline from the New York Times attests: “Data Are Elusive on the Homeless.” Sometimes scientists think of data as plural, as in ''These data do not support the conclusions.'' But more often scientists and researchers think of data as a singular mass entity like information, and most people now follow this in general usage."[http://www.bartleby.com/61/51/D0035100.html]</ref> UK usage now widely accepts treating ''data'' as singular in standard English<ref>New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1999</ref>, including everyday newspaper usage<ref>"...in educated everyday usage as represented by the Guardian newspaper, it is nowadays most often used as a singular."[http://www.eisu2.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/revis006.htm]</ref> at least in non-scientific use.<ref>http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/data?view=uk</ref> UK scientific publishing usually still prefers treating it as a plural.<ref>http://www.eisu2.bham.ac.uk/johnstf/revis006.htm</ref>. Some UK university style guides recommend using ''data'' for both singular and plural use<ref>http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/public-affairs/uon-style-book/singular-plural.htm</ref> and some recommend treating it only as a singular in connection with computers.<ref>http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=182902</ref>

==Uses of ''data'' in science and computing==
{{main|Data (computing)}}

''Raw data'' are [[number]]s, [[character (computing)|characters]], [[image]]s or other outputs from devices to convert physical quantities into symbols, in a very broad sense. Such data are typically further [[data processing|processed]] by a human or [[input]] into a [[computer]], [[Computer storage|stored]] and processed there, or transmitted ([[output]]) to another human or computer. ''Raw data'' is a relative term; data processing commonly occurs by stages, and the "processed data" from one stage may be considered the "raw data" of the next.

Mechanical computing devices are classified according to the means by which they represent data. An [[analog computer]] represents a datum as a voltage, distance, position, or other physical quantity. A [[digital computer]] represents a datum as a sequence of symbols drawn from a fixed [[alphabet]]. The most common digital computers use a binary alphabet, that is, an alphabet of two characters, typically denoted "0" and "1". More familiar representations, such as numbers or letters, are then constructed from the binary alphabet.

Some special forms of data are distinguished. A [[computer program]] is a collection of data, which can be interpreted as instructions. Most computer languages make a distinction between programs and the other data on which programs operate, but in some languages, notably [[Lisp programming language|Lisp]] and similar languages, programs are essentially indistinguishable from other data. It is also useful to distinguish [[metadata]], that is, a description of other data. A similar yet earlier term for metadata is "ancillary data."  The prototypical example of metadata is the library catalog, which is a description of the contents of books.

==Meaning of data, information and knowledge==
The terms [[information]] and [[knowledge]] are frequently used for overlapping concepts. The main difference is in the level of [[abstraction]] being considered.  Data is the lowest level of abstraction, information is the next level, and finally, knowledge is the highest level among all three.  For example, the height of Mt. Everest is generally considered as "data", a book on Mt. Everest geological characteristics may be considered as "information", and a report containing practical information on the best way to reach Mt. Everest's peak may be considered as "knowledge". 

Information as a concept bears a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and representation.<!--given by nupur seth-->

Beynon-Davies <ref>Beynon-Davies P. (2002). Information Systems: an introduction to informatics in Organisations. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK. ISBN 0-333-96390-3</ref> uses the concept of a [[sign]] to distinguish between [[data]] and [[information]]. Data are symbols. Information occurs when symbols are used to refer to something.

==See also== 
{{wiktionary}}
<div style="-moz-column-count:4; column-count:4;">
* [[Biological data]]
* [[Data acquisition]]
* [[Data analysis]]
* [[Data domain]]
* [[Data element]]
* [[Data farming]]
* [[Data integrity]]
* [[Data maintenance]]
* [[Data management]]
* [[Data mining]]
* [[Data modeling]]
* [[Data processing]]
* [[Data recovery]]
* [[Data remanence]] and data destruction techniques.
* [[Data set]]
* [[Data warehouse]]
* [[Database]]
* [[Datasheet]]
* [[Drylabbing]], creating false data.
* [[Environmental data rescue]]
* [[Metadata]]
* [[Scientific data archiving]]
* [[Statistics]]
</div>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Refimprove|date=July 2007}} 

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