The standard definition of data, information and knowledge (e.g. Bellinger(1997)) is of a liner model where data (raw facts) is processed to become information (processed facts) which in turn is processed to become knowledge (information used in a context to achieve something).
I think that this definition is flawed in two ways:
1. How do you know what data is relevant to a given situation? Don’t you need knowledge to choose relevant data initially
2. How can data be processed into information and information into knowledge without the use of knowledge.
The definition of data being raw or unprocessed fact, figures, symbols get seems to be fairly well accepted as is the definition that information is processed data. However, there seem to be little consensus as to what knowledge is, although several definitions (refs) define knowledge as information used in a context to achieve something.
I think that the KID model is more interrelated, that data, information and knowledge interact with each other. Knowledge is used to define data and process it into information as well as being data or information used in a context to achieve some meaningful goal.
Putting this into the context of a university.
At the end of the year every module in the university has a set of grade which have to be entered MISIS. At this point, the grades are data; they are just a list of figures. At the exam board, all the grades for each module are considered, along with the statistical summaries. At this point, the summaries become information; they can be used to indicate how well a module has run and to compare different modules. Later at the progression board, all the grades for each individual student are considered, these grades are again information, they allow judgements to be made about each student’s progress. After the boards, staff can use the student’s grade and their knowledge of the student to predict their final grade. Now staff are using previous knowledge they have about the student (i.e. the student attitude towards work, personal commitments etc.), their own expertise and the students grades to predict their future grade.
Bellinger, G., Castro, D. and Mills, A. (1997), ‘Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom’,
http://www.outsights.com/systems/dikw/dikw.htm
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hi joanna, after our group discussion on Thursday and re reading your post I came up with a few ideas on relationships between data information and knowledge that you may want to have look at. I had some examples from a teaching perspective which were similar to your so I decided to look at it from a programming perspective.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Hi Joanna, I like your thoughts on the inter-relationship between data, information and Knowledge. I agree that they do interact with each other and may not be a linear flow as popularly beleived. For instance, is not knowledge required to tell information from data?
ReplyDeleteIn addition, my view is that the terms must have a somewhat cyclical relationship as data can be derived from Knowledge.
Great article, and great comments. I absolutely agree: even if you agree that the terms deserve separate definitions, it is not really possible to disentangle them and their relationship is not 'linear', what ever it is.
ReplyDelete(More references please.)
Has anybody thought of how the K, I, D words are used to indicate perceived value?