Page 14 - Viva ICSE Computer Studies 4 : E-book

Data and Information

We feed data into the computer in the form of text, numbers, special characters,
facts, concepts or instructions. Therefore, we can say that data is a representation of
unorganised facts and fi gures.

Information is the processed and organised data. It is meaningful.

Let’s understand the diff erences between data and information.

Data Information

Data is the collection of raw facts and fi gures. Information is processed and organised data.
It is used as input. It is obtained as output.

It is meaningless. It is meaningful.

Let’s get a better understanding about data and information with some examples from
our everyday lives.

• Your sports teacher wants to make a list of height
and weights of all the students. He collects the data
from the students of your class and feeds it in the

computer. After entering the raw data as input into
the computer, he organises the data in ascending
order. This processed data obtained as output is
called information.

• When your mother purchases things from a grocery
store, the grocer takes details from her about various

food items purchased and feeds the data into the
computer as input. After organising the data properly,
the information is obtained as output and given to
your mother in the form of a printed bill.

Data Storage Units

All the data that we feed into a computer gets converted to a form that can be
understood by the computer. This form is called the machine code. A computer takes

the input in two forms: ON which is represented by 1 and OFF which is represented by 0.
Both 0 and 1 are called binary digits or bits. The data entered into a computer is stored
in the form of bits and is measured in bytes.

• Bit is a single digit in binary number which can be either 0 or 1. It is the smallest unit
of data in a computer.

• A group of 8 bits is called a byte. It is considered the smallest unit of memory.

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