Data
Data is a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables; restated, data are individual pieces of information. Data in computing are represented in a structure that is often tabular, a tree, or a graph. Data are typically the results of measurements and can be visualized using graphs or images. Data as an abstract concept can be viewed as the lowest level of abstraction, from which information and then knowledge are derived.
Raw data, i.e., unprocessed data, refers to a collection of numbers, characters and is a relative term; data processing commonly occurs by stages, and the "processed data" from one stage may be considered the "raw data" of the next. Field data refers to raw data that is collected in an uncontrolled in situ environment. Experimental data refers to data that is generated within the context of a scientific investigation by observation and recording. The word
data is the traditional plural form of the now-archaic
datum, neuter past participle of the Latin
dare, "to give", hence "something given".