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Unit 2 · Topic 01 · Data Analysis and Representation (Google Sheets)

Differences between data and information

Hook

Anaya stood up and read out forty-two numbers.

By the seventh, Kabir had stopped listening. By the fortieth, so had everyone else.

Not one person could say which house should run the relay.

The Story

Sports Day was in nine days. The 50-metre trials were over, and every child's time sat in a Google Sheet: name, house, seconds.

Forty-two rows. All correct. All useless, so far.

"Which house should run the relay?" asked Ms. Rao.

Anaya's hand shot up. "9.2! That's the best time. It's mine."

Kabir leaned closer to Pixel's screen. "9.2 is in the wrong column," he said. "That's the 30-metre practice from June."

Anaya went pink. A bare number had told her nothing, and she had believed it anyway.

So they tried properly. Kabir sorted the times from smallest to largest. Then he took the fastest four runners in each house and added their times.

Blue: 41.8 seconds. Green: 43.2. Red: 44.0. Yellow: 44.6.

He typed one sentence at the bottom of the sheet: Blue House has the fastest four; Blue should run the relay.

Ms. Rao nodded. "Twelve words," she said. "Anaya read forty-two numbers and told us nothing. Kabir read the same forty-two numbers and answered the question."

"So my numbers were rubbish?" said Anaya.

"Your numbers were the raw material," said Ms. Rao. "Nobody can drink flour. You still need the flour."

Then she asked a second question: "Who improved most since June?"

The same forty-two rows answered nothing at all. They held no June times. Kabir had to fetch the old sheet first, and Pixel's fan groaned about opening two files at once.

The trials spreadsheet with columns A name, B house and C fifty-metre time, showing why the bare number 9.2 from a different sheet meant nothing Sheet: 50 m trials - 12 August A B C 1 2 3 4 5 Name House 50 m (sec) Anaya Blue 10.4 Kabir Green 10.9 Meera Blue 10.2 Rohan Red 11.1 rows 6 to 43 hold the rest of the 42 runners Anaya's "9.2" 30 m practice, June, other sheet No label = not information Fastest four, added Blue 41.8, Green 43.2 Red 44.0, Yellow 44.6 Blue runs the relay
The trials sheet, and the twelve words it finally produced.

So What Just Happened?

Data is raw facts, collected but not yet given meaning: numbers, words, dates, names. "9.2" is data. So are the forty-two rows.

Information is data given meaning and context, so it answers a question. "Anaya ran 50 m in 10.4 seconds on 12 August" is information. So is "Blue House should run the relay."

Three things make the change: a label (what is this number?), organising (sorting, grouping, adding), and a question to answer. Notice too that the same data can answer one question and be useless for another.

A pipeline showing raw data becoming information after labelling, organising and asking a question DATA (raw facts) 10.4, 10.9, 10.2, 11.1 42 rows, all correct "9.2" with no label Answers nothing yet ADD MEANING 1. Label it (50 m, 12 Aug) 2. Sort and group by house 3. Add the fastest four 4. Ask a question INFORMATION Blue 41.8 is fastest of the four houses Blue runs the relay DATA + label + organising + a question = INFORMATION
The same facts, before and after meaning is added.

Remember This

  • Data = raw facts. Information = data that answers a question.
  • A number with no label cannot be trusted — 9.2 of what, from when?
  • Sorting, grouping and adding turn data into information.
  • Information is usually shorter than the data it came from.
  • The same data can answer one question and be useless for another.
A cheat card comparing data and information, with three tests to run on any number you are shown CHEAT CARD - is this data, or information? DATA "10.4" "Blue" "12/08" INFORMATION "Blue's fastest four = 41.8 s" Test 1: Is it labelled? What, who, when? Test 2: Is it organised? Sorted, grouped, added Test 3: Does it answer? If no - still just data
Three tests to run on any number you are shown.

Try It Yourself

Write down what you ate at every meal for two days. That list is data.

Now answer one question from it: which food appeared most often? Write the answer as one sentence.

That sentence is information. Underline the words in it that the raw list did not contain.

Word Bank

Data
Raw facts — numbers, words, dates — collected but not yet explained.
Information
Data with meaning added, so it answers a question.
Context
The extra facts that say what a number means: what, who, when.
Label
The heading that says what a column of data holds.
Organise
To sort, group or add data so that it makes sense.

Questions

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