Types of data and actions with information

Everything that surrounds us is a kind of information that we perceive by various senses. We see colors, smell, hear conversations and other sounds - this is all information.

Now we will talk about data from the point of view of the informatics subject. What actions with information can we do and do it daily, without realizing this fact? Consider the very basic concept, the classification of data. Before proceeding to the question of what actions with information we can do, we offer you a brief introduction, namely, the basics of computer science.

Information

Actions with information are numerous: receiving, processing, storage, transfer. Surely everyone knows this, but what is information? Not everyone thought about this question.

It is important to remember that any information is necessarily associated with any data. It can be either dependent or not, interconnected with other data or information, can have value characteristics and so on. This is a small list of properties.

Absolutely all the information is divided into:

• Mass.
• Special.
• The personal.

The first category includes the mass media, we use them every day: watching TV, reading newspapers and magazines, and in this century all the basic information is drawn from the world wide web called the Internet. Special information includes scientific, technical, managerial data that is far from available to everyone. It is not worth talking about personal information, it's clear to everyone that these are non-disclosable data that are managed by one person. Before we look at the actions with information, we suggest getting acquainted with its classification. Different sources offer many variations, comparing several possible ones, we give the variant described in the next paragraph.

Classification

To begin with, it is important to know that all information is divided into two large groups, broken down by the form of representation: discrete and analog. If you take examples, then the first group includes the number of crimes, that is, the information changes, and to the second - the speed of the car in a certain interval of the path.

Also, information can be divided, taking into account the region of origin: elementary, biological, social. The first group includes the actions of inanimate objects, the second - the processes of the living world, and the third reflects the processes of man and society as a whole.

Already in the last paragraph, we gave one of the classification options that reflects the purpose. We divided the information into: mass, special and personal.

Before highlighting actions with information, we will analyze the classification that is most often encountered in informatics and ICT courses, that is, the division by the coding method:

• Symbolic.
• Text.
• Graphical.

Actions

We constantly, without even noticing this, work with data and information. Even if you take an ordinary school lesson or lecture. We are given information, we perceive it, of course, if we want it, we process it, we save it, we can share it, that is, we can give it, and so on. Now consider what actions with the information are possible:

• Receiving.
• Treatment.
• Storage.
• Broadcast.

We offer each operation to consider separately, for a closer and meaningful acquaintance.

Receiving the information

In the last paragraph, we identified the main operations, it is important to note the fact that the sequence of actions with the information there is chosen such not casually. This is the correct sequence of working with information.

The first on our list is the receipt operation. The information is different and it comes to us in various ways, namely, they distinguish such methods:

• Empirical.
• Theoretical.
• Mixed.

The first method is based on obtaining any empirical data that can be obtained with the help of some actions: observation, comparison, measurement, experiment, questioning, testing, interviewing and so on.

The second group includes methods for constructing theories, and the third group combines both the first and second methods.

Treatment

First comes information, then processing is necessary. This process occurs in several stages. We will disassemble on an example of the enterprise. The whole process begins with data collection. Any firm in the course of its activities accompanies each action by recording data. For data processing, a classification operation is used, as is known, all information is codes consisting of one or more symbols. If you consider the calculation of wages, the record will consist (approximately) of the personnel number, department code, job code and so on. Based on this information, the employee is paid wages.

Storage

Processing and storing information are very important processes, one of which we have already disassembled. Proceed to the next stage. Why do we store information? This is due to the fact that almost all data is needed repeatedly. Any stored information is a "trace", and it does not matter at all about which media we are talking about, they can be stones, wood, paper, film, disk, etc., you will not list all. If you look at a sheet, a stone with letters cut out, everything is simple - we see the information with the naked eye. But as for disks, tapes, flash drives, this is a little more complicated, we need special devices for reading information. But this is a plus, that is, recording or reading can be a fully automated process.

Broadcast

This is a process in which information moves in space, it includes several components: the source, the receiver, the medium, the medium of data transmission. Consider an elementary example. You recorded the film on disk and carried it to your friend. This is the transfer of information where the source is involved - your computer, the media - the disk, the recipient - the friend. This process also happens when you transfer data via the Internet, only you do not need to go anywhere.