An Instructor delivers a quiz to the students in a class, assigns a grade to each quiz, and determines the minimum, maximum, and average grade. When…

Data is defined as raw, unprocessed facts and figures. In this scenario, the grade assigned to each individual quiz (e.g., 85, 92, 78) represents the initial, raw facts that are collected. All other values mentioned—the minimum, maximum, average grade, and average differential—are derived through processing and calculation. These processed values are considered information, as they are organized and contextualized to provide meaning, whereas the individual grades are the fundamental data points from which this information is created.

B. The average differential for each quiz: This is a calculated value (individual grade minus the average grade), which is the result of processing raw data, making it information, not data.

C. The minimum and maximum grade for all quizzes: These values are derived by analyzing the entire collection of individual grades. This analysis is a form of processing, which converts data into information.

D. The average grade for all quizzes: This is a statistical summary calculated by summing all individual grades and dividing by the count. It is a classic example of processed data, or information.

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1. Bourgeois

D. T. (2014). Information Systems for Business and Beyond. The Saylor Foundation.

Chapter 1

Section "What Is an Information System?": This chapter distinguishes between data and information. It states

"Data are the raw bits and pieces of information with no context... By itself

data is not very useful. To be useful

data must be given context." The text uses the example of a list of numbers (data) being processed to find an average (information)

directly supporting the logic that individual grades are data and the average is information.

2. The Open University. (n.d.). Data

information

knowledge and wisdom.

Section "Data": This university resource defines data as "a collection of facts in a raw or unorganised form

such as numbers or characters." This aligns with the individual quiz grades being the raw facts in the scenario. The resource further defines information as "data that has been processed... in a way that it has context and is useful

" which describes the calculated values in options B

C

and D.

3. Rowley

J. (2007). The wisdom hierarchy: representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science

33(2)

163–180.

Page 165

Section "Defining data

information

knowledge and wisdom": This peer-reviewed article

a foundational text on the DIKW (Data

Information

Knowledge

Wisdom) model

defines data as "raw" and representing "symbols or facts out of context." This academic definition confirms that the unprocessed individual grades are data

while the contextualized and calculated results are information. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0165551506070706)