Chapter 01 – Data, Information,

Knowledge and Processing

01 – Learning Objectives
2 – Sources 3 – Quality of 4 – Coding, Encoding 5 – Data
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 By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:

 define the differences between data, information and knowledge
 define static and dynamic data
 compare static information sources with dynamic information sources
 define direct and indirect data sources
 understand the advantages and disadvantages of gathering data from
direct and indirect data sources
 understand how the accuracy, relevance, age, level of detail and
completeness of information can affect its quality
 describe the coding of data and discuss its advantages and disadvantages
 evaluate the need to encode data and analyse different methods for
encoding data
 define encryption and describe different methods of encryption
 evaluate the need for encryption and how it can be used to protect data
 discuss encryption protocols
 define validation and analyse a range of validation methods
 define verification and analyse verification methods
 explain the need for both validation and verification
 define proof reading
1.01 – Data, Information and Knowledge
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Data Key Terms

!
 Data is raw numbers, letters, symbols, Data: raw numbers, letters,
sounds or images with no meaning. symbols, sounds or images
without meaning
Example Information: data with
P952BR context and meaning
@bbcclick Knowledge: information to
359 which human experience has
23557.99. been applied

Figure 1.01 - Example of raw data Discussion Point

!
When answering a question
 The data P952BR could have several such as ‘Give one item of
meanings. It could possibly be: data’, do not try to explain
 a product code what the data means because
 a postal/ZIP code it then becomes information.
 a car registration number. Just give the raw numbers,
 As it is not known what the data means, it is letters, symbols or image.
meaningless.
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Information
 When data items are given context and meaning, they become information. A
person reading the information will then know what it means.
 Data is given context by identifying what sort of data it is. This still does not
make it information but it is a step on the way to it becoming information as
shown in the next example.
Example
Data Context Comment
P952BR A product This is a product code but it is still not known
code what it is a product code for so it is still data.
@bbcclick A Twitter This is an address used for Twitter but it is not
handle information unless it is known to be a Twitter
handle or used within Twitter software. It’s also
not known whose address it is.
359 Price in This is a currency value but it is not known
Pakistani what the price is for, so it is still data.
Rupees
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 For the data to become information, it needs to be

given meaning. Information is useful because it
means something.
Example

Data Context Comment

P952BR A product A product code for a can of noodles.
code
@bbcclick A Twitter The Twitter address for the BBC’s weekly
handle technology show, Click, which is worth
watching on BBC World News and BBC2
to keep up to date with technology.
359 Price in The price of a mobile phone cover.
Pakistani
Rupees
1.02 – Sources of Data
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Direct Data Source Example

 Data collected from a direct data source
A sports shop wants to find
(primary source) must be used for the same out what other shops are
purpose for which it was collected. It is often charging for trainers. There
the case that the data will have been are various direct sources
collected or requested by the person who that this data can be
intends to use the data. collected from. These could
 The data must not already exist for another include:
 visiting the other shops
purpose though. When collecting the data,
and noting down the
the person collecting should know for what prices
purpose they intend to use the data.  visiting the other shops’
websites and noting down
the prices
 carrying out a survey of
other shop owners to ask
their prices (although they
Figure 1.05 – Direct are unlikely to want to give
data source. these).
1.02 – Sources of Data
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Indirect Data Source Example

 Data collected from an The sports shop could use various
indirect data source indirect sources to find out what other
shops are charging for trainers
(secondary source) already including:
existed for another purpose.  carrying out a survey of customers
Although it can still be who have purchased trainers from
the other shops (the price was
collected by the person who originally given to the customer for
intends to use it, it was often the purpose of selling the trainers
collected by a different which may have been given on a
person or organisation. different date to when it is now being
used or it may have been
discounted at the time)
 looking at till receipts from the shop
(the price is printed on the till receipt
Figure 1.06 – for the purpose of providing proof of
Indirect data purchase, not for identifying prices).
source.
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Advantages and disadvantages of gathering data from direct and indirect data sources
 The general rule is that data collected directly for the purpose for which it is intended is more
likely to be accurate and relevant than data that is obtained from existing data (indirect
source).
Direct data source Indirect data source
The data will be relevant because what is needed Additional data that is not required will exist that
has been collected. may take time to sort through and some data
that is required may not exist.
The original source is known and so can be trusted. The original source may not be known and so it
can’t be assumed that it is reliable.
It can take a long time to gather original data rather The data is immediately available.
than use data that already exists.
A large sample of statistical data can be difficult to If statistical analysis is required, then there are
collect for one-off purposes. more likely to be large samples available.
The data is likely to be up to date because it has Data may be out of date because it was
been collected recently. collected at a different time.
Bias can be eliminated by asking specific Original data may be biased due to its source.
questions.
The data can be collected and presented in the The data is unlikely to be in the format required,
format required. which may make extracting the data difficult.
Table 1.02 - Direct and indirect data sources.
1.03 – Quality of Information
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 The quality of information is Example

determined by a number of Examples of inaccurate
attributes. information include:
Accuracy  decimal point in the
 Information that is inaccurate is wrong place, for example
$90.30 instead of
clearly not good enough. Data $903.00 could suggest a
must be accurate in order to be product is much cheaper
considered of good quality. than it really is
 Imagine being told that you need to  misspelling such as ‘stair’
instead of ‘stare’, where
check in at the airport 45 minutes words have completely
before the flight leaves, so you turn different meanings
up at 18:10 for a 19:05 flight only  misplaced characters,
to find that you were actually such as a licence plate of
supposed to check in one hour BW9EP3T instead of
BW93PET.
early.
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Relevance Example
 Information must be relevant Examples of irrelevant information include:
to its purpose. Having  being given a bus timetable when you
additional information that is want to catch a train
not required means that the  being told the rental price of a car when
user has to search through you want to buy the car
the data to find what is  a user guide for a mobile phone that
actually required. includes instructions on how to assemble
a plug.
Age
 Information must be up to Example
date in order to be useful. Examples of out of date information include:
Old information is likely to be  the number of residents in a town based
out of date and therefore no on a census from 2011, but 500 new
longer useful. homes have been built in the town since
 When using indirect data then
sources, always check when  a rugby score that has not been updated
the information was for 5 minutes during which time a player
produced. scored.
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Completeness Task
 All information that is
required must be provided
in order for it to be of good
quality. Not having all the
information required means
it cannot be used properly.
Example

 A person has booked their

car in for a service over the Figure 1.08 - Birthday party invitation.
phone. The mechanic tells Look at the invitation above.
Describe how accuracy, relevance,
them the name of the street level of detail and completeness
but doesn’t give the building affect the quality of information in the
number. invitation.
1.04 – Coding, Encoding & Encrypting Data
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Encryption
 One specific type of encoding is encryption. This is when data is scrambled
so that it cannot be understood. The purpose of encryption is to make the
data difficult or impossible to read if it is accessed by an unauthorised user.
Data can be encrypted when it is stored on disks or other storage media, or
it can be encrypted when it is sent across a network such as a local area
network or the internet. Accessing encrypted data legitimately is known as
decryption.
Caesar cipher
 A cipher is a secret way of writing. In other words it is a code. Ciphers are
used to convert a message into an encrypted message. It is a special type
of algorithm which defines the set of rules to follow to encrypt a message.
Roman Emperor Julius Caesar created the Caesar cipher so that he could
communicate in secret with his generals.
 The Caesar cipher is sometimes known as a shift cipher because it selects
replacement letters by shifting along the alphabet.
1.04 – Coding, Encoding & Encrypting Data
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Discussion Point
!
Figure 1.13 - The Enigma machine.
 The Germans used encrypted messages during World War II
using the Enigma machine. An operator would type in a
message and then scramble it by using three to five notched
wheels. The recipient would need to know the exact settings
of the wheels in order to decipher the message. There were
159 x 1018 possible combinations.
 Encrypted messages from the Lorenz cipher machine led to
the development of the world’s first electric programmable computer,
Colossus, which helped British code breakers read encrypted German
messages.
 The first major encryption algorithm for computers was the Data
Encryption Standard (DES) used in the 1970s. It used a 56-bit (1’s and 0’s)
key. This offered 70 x 1015 possible combinations, but the development of
computers meant that it eventually became possible to ‘crack’ the code.
This was replaced by the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) which
uses up to 256-bit keys. This can offer 300 x 10n possible combinations.
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Task Example
1. Using the Caesar cipher +3  In this example the alphabet is to
example previously, write an be shifted by three (+3) letters so
encrypted message to a friend. that A =D, B = E and so on:
Ask your friend to decipher it.
2. Choose how many letters you
are going to shift by and write  So to encrypt the word ‘Hello’, we
another encrypted message to would use:
a friend. Don’t tell your friend H = K, E=H,L = 0,0 = R
how many letters you shifted which gives KHOOR.
by. Your friend should try to
decipher the code by working
out which letters appear most
commonly.
3. Click here to create a cipher
wheel and use it to encrypt and
decrypt messages.
1.04 – Coding, Encoding & Encrypting Data
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Symmetric encryption Sender

 This is the oldest method of encryption. It
Encrypts
requires both the sender and recipient to using Recipient
possess the secret encryption and decryption secret key Decrypts
key. With symmetric encryption, the secret key
using the
needs to be sent to the recipient. This could be
same
done at a separate time, but it still has to be
secret key
transmitted whether by post or over the internet
and it could be intercepted. Figure 1.14 - Symmetric
Asymmetric encryption encryption.
 Asymmetric encryption is also known as public-
Sender Recipient
key cryptography. Asymmetric encryption
Encrypts Decrypts
overcomes the problem of symmetric encryption
using using same
keys being intercepted by using a pair of keys.
recipients algorithm
This will include a public key which is available
public key using their
to anybody wanting to send data, and a private
key that is known only to the recipient. They key matching
is the algorithm required to encrypt and decrypt private key
the data. Figure 1.15 - Asymmetric
 The process works like this: encryption.
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 In the next example, Tomasz sends a

message to Helene. Tomasz encrypts the
message using Helene’s public key.
Helene receives the encrypted message
and decrypts it using her private key.
 This method requires a lot more
processing than symmetric encryption and
so it takes longer to decrypt the data.
 In order to find a public key, digital
certificates are required which identify the
user or server and provide the public key.
A digital certificate is unique to each user
or server.
 A digital certificate usually includes: Figure 1.16 - Asymmetric
 organisation name encryption example.
 organisation that issued the certificate
 user’s email address
 user’s country
 user’s public key.
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 When encrypted data is required by a

recipient, the computer will request the
digital certificate from the sender. The public
key can be found within the digital
certificate.
 Asymmetric encryption is used for Secure
Sockets Layer (SSL) which is the security
method used for secure websites. Transport
Layer Security (TLS) has superseded SSL
Figure 1.16 - Asymmetric
but they are both often referred to as SSL. encryption example.
 Once SSL has established an
authenticated session, "e client and
server will create symmetric keys for
faster secure communication.
Task
Watch the video about SSL at:
http://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10241 Click Here