What is data?
Data is a collection of facts that have been gathered by observation, questioning or measurement. Data can include numbers, words or descriptions of things.
Examples of data collection
Example 1: What would you do if you were asked to gather data on the ages of the children in a class? You might ask all the children to tell you their ages. You would end up with a list like the one below.
- Eden: 12 years old
- Drevon: 11 years old
- Alexia: 10 years old
- Cameron: 13 years old
- Raheem: 11 years old
- Shahid: 11 years old
- Kaylan: 12 years old
- Tenison: 11 years old
Example 2: Teachers collect data on the students in their classes. After giving a Science test, Ms. Prospere recorded the scores as seen below:
- Kimma: 70%
- Tessa: 82%
- Jervonte: 73%
- Zanica: 71%
- Michael: 68%
- Ke’Andre: 73%
- Kimaney: 78%
- Sharice: 73%
- Khari: 73%
- Keshann: 91%
- Agnes: 85%
- Kennita: 79%
Example 3: Shillon was asked to collect data on the weather conditions every hour from 6am to 12 noon on a certain day. He observed the weather every hour and wrote his observations as seen below:
- 6 a.m. – Cloudy and cool
- 7 a.m. – Cloudy, rainy and windy
- 8 a.m. – Cloudy and cool
- 9 a.m. – Partly cloudy and cool
- 10 a.m. – Sunny and warm
- 11 a.m. – Sunny and hot
- 12 noon – Sunny and hot
Why do we collect data?
Data helps us understand people and things. For example, if we gather data about the weather every day for many years, we can figure out the pattern of the weather. For instance, when a hurricane forms, we can predict its path based on data collected from hurricanes in the past. Then we can warn people who are in the path of the hurricane so they can prepare. Data collected about about the foods we eat helps us understand which foods are good for our health and which ones are not.
We can use the data to help us make decisions. For example, data collected on grade 6 students throughout the school year is used to make decisions about which secondary schools students will attend. Also, if we want to remain healthy, we can make decisions about the types of food we eat based on data which has been collected about food.
How do we collect data?
Data can be collected in many ways including questionnaires, interviews, observation, measurement and experiments.