data
Sign in to savethumb|right|200px|These are some of the different types of data: Geographical, Cultural, Scientific, Financial, Statistical, Meteorological, Natural, Transport
AI overview
Data is information collected and organized about the world around us, ranging from geographical locations and weather patterns to financial records and scientific observations. It matters because it helps us understand what's happening, make informed decisions, and solve problems across nearly every area of life and work.
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Etymology and terminology
- Meaning
- Data sources
- Data documents
- Data collection
- Data longevity and accessibility
- In other fields
- See also
- References
- External links
thumb|right|200px|These are some of the different types of data: Geographical, Cultural, Scientific, Financial, Statistical, Meteorological, Natural, Transport
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted formally. A datum is an individual value in a collection of data. Data are usually organized into structures such as tables that provide additional context and meaning, and may themselves be used as data in larger structures. Data may be used as variables in a computational process. Data may represent abstract ideas or concrete measurements. Data are commonly used in scientific research, economics, and virtually every other form of human organizational activity. Examples of data sets include price indices (such as the consumer price index), unemployment rates, literacy rates, and census data. In this context, data represent the raw facts and figures from which useful information can be extracted.