DATA
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(1) |
| ID | ◀ 817 ▶ |
| Object type | Discipline oriented, Epistemology, ontology or semantics |
Any elements of information.
G. BATESON observes: “… ”data“ are not events or objects but always records or descriptions or memories of events or objects. Always there is a transformation or recoding of the raw event which intervenes between the scientist and his object” (1973, p.24).
This is true not only for the scientist, but also for any human being. Moreover, the transformation is at least physical and physiological and, as stated again by BATESON: “… always and inevitably, there is a selection of data because the total universe, past and present, is not subject to observation from any given observer's position… (and) no data are truly raw, and every record has been somehow subjected to editing and transformation either by man or by his instruments” (Ibid).
It could be added that data make sense only in contexts, acquiring different shades of meaning in different reference frames.
From another angle, the meaning of the word has been subtly changed since the advent of computers. In computers, data are not only collected, but also organized in order to be retrievable according to need for information treatment. As observed by W. REEVES: “Data is the specially designated electronic machine version of information. It has some structure, it may be true or not. It is not a process, but is does have the potential to render a meaning in the human observer. It lacks the human to human connection, but what is stored as data can only exist from human intervention either as input or algorithm” (1992, p.1100).