Data Representation

DATA
Objectives
By the end of this topic you should be able to:
Define data
Explain data structures
Identify types of data using file extensions
State and define storage units
Introduction
Today lots of data is being generated by
people,
businesses as well as
computing devices such as computers or phones or
applications (programs)
Examples of data include eg, Number, Text, Pictures or
images, Videos, Sound
Definition
Theseare raw facts without meaning to the user.
History
Before the advent of computers human beings could deal with
very small amounts of data and could analyse data easily with the
use of natural human intelligence without the use of computers
However as the volume of data surpasses the ability of humans to
make sense of it, programs were designed with instructions and
rules to help human beings understand and analyse data (DBMS)
As data continue to grow exponentially (big data) in recent years
these programs are becaming insufficient in helping people
understand and analyse data
 Human beings are turning to automated systems that makes use
of (machine learning) that can learn and adapt to changes in data
patterns
History of Data
Data used to be recorded on flat files
However an Increase in this data was difficult to manage

DBMS programs were invented to minimize the

challenges of structured data recorded on flat files

New ways to derive meaning from unstructured data and

increase in database data were created (machine learning)

Data from internet of things devices

 History of Data
DBMS Unstructured Future
Flat Files (Structured Data) Data Big Data Technologies

Natural Program Machine Deep Neural

Intelligence Instructions Learning Learning Networks

Human Beings Programs Ai Algorithms Ai Algorithms Ai Algorithms

Types of Data
Geographical data
Scientific data
Transport
Natural data
Meteorological data
Statistical data
Financial data
Cultural data
Social media data
Geographical data
Geographical Geographicaldata is used for weather
forecasting eg
Temperature
Humidity
Atmospheric Pressure
Wind speed
Wind direction
Sunlight intensity
Scientific data
Include Data from sensors:
Ph levels
Chemical reactions
Carbon dioxide levels
Oxygen levels
Blood sugar levels
Blood oxygen levels
Social media
Data from social media apps such as Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, Instagram, tiktok include
Views
Likes
Comments
Tweets
Shares
Subscriptions
Financial Data
Data generated by companies, financial institutions
such banks or lending institutions
Sales
Interest rates
Income
Expenses
Loans
Natural data
Data which comes in naturally
Time
Statistical data
Birth rates
Death rates
Categories of Data

Data

Analogue Digital
Data Data

Input Output Structured Unstructured

Devices Devices Data Data

Machine
Database
Learning
Data
Data can be divided into
analogue data
digital data
Analogue data
Data from/to input or output devices
Data which a computer cannot understand
Data from the physical environment ie physical
quantities data
Analogue data Features
Vary with output
Changes from time to time
Not consistent
Data is input as analogue
Data is output as analogue
Understood by input or output devices
Digital data
Data which a computer can understand
Data only executed by the processor
Data which is converted to binary ie either a 1 or 0
Digital data features
Consistent with output
Does not change from time to time
Has only two states it's either one or zero
Data varies between 0 or 1
Binary i.e. either its one (on) or o (off )
Data is processed to information as digital
Data is transmitted to other devices as digital
Data is stored as digital in a computer system
Can be structured day or unstructured data
Big Data
Unstructured and structured data
Features
The three main features of big data are
Volume:
the sheer amount of data is on a very large scale
variety:
the type of data being collected is wide-ranging,
varied and may be difficult to classify
velocity:
the data changes quickly and may include constantly
changing data sources.
Structured Data
data that can be defined using traditional database
techniques using fields and records. This means that it
is possible to give each data item a field name and
type. For example, data about a customer or student.
data would fall into this category as it is possible to
identify a field for name and address.

Structured data: data that fit into a

standard database structure of columns
and rows (fields and records).
Unstructured Data
data that cannot be defined in columns and rows.
These might include multimedia data, web pages and
the contents of emails, documents, presentations. It
is important to note that although each of these
types of data has its own structure, they do not fit
easily into the standard database structure therefore
making it difficult to analyse the contents of the data.

Unstructured data: data that do not fit into a

standard database structure of columns and rows
(fields and records).
Examples of Big Data
Data generated by scientists for research purposes
 Data generated by e-commerce online
Transactions generated by bank customers
Social media data eg likes, views
Data generated by government eg population census
statistics
Data from IoT devices
Storage Units
For the purpose of Zimsec Syllabus:
Bit: binary digit i.e. one or zero
Nibble: binary digit with 4 bits e.g. 1001
Byte: binary digit with 8 bits e.g. 10101010
Kilobyte: 1000bytes e.g. 1024b
Megabyte: 1000kilobytes e.g. 1024Kb
Gigabyte: 1024megabytes e.g. 1024Mb
Terabyte: 1000gigabytes e.g. 1025Gb
Types of data and storage unit
Documents
.doc, .docx
Excel files
.xls, .xlsx
Database files
.accdb