Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
troducing information into society. Information is created by the assembly of data in
ways that provide new meanings or understandings that show new relationships.
For example, researchers may conduct a formal study of the way that children
react to violence portrayed on television. The researchers define a group (for ex-
ample, sixth-grade boys and girls), identify exemplars of that group, and determine
methods or strategies for gathering data about their reactions to a recorded viol-
ent episode. Data may be collected using questionnaires, interviews, observations,
analysis of records, or other means. After the data are collected, the data are ana-
lyzed to address the questions or hypotheses that were used to frame the research
process. This is an example of the beginning of a formal research process.
Another example might be the coverage of a news event by a reporter for a loc-
al newspaper or television or radio station. The editor assigns a reporter to cover a
meeting of the local school board. The reporter attends the meeting, takes notes,
and at the conclusion of the meeting interviews the chair of the school board and
the superintendent to get their reactions to the key agenda items discussed and
action taken. Based on the information gathered, the reporter prepares a story on
a computer and e-mails it to the editor for editing and assignment to a next edition
of the newspaper, which is likely to be online as well as published in paper format.
An individual, who can post his ideas on a webpage, blog post, tweet, or Face-
book entry, perhaps assembling ideas from several sources and synthesizing them
into a post, can also create information. Newer technologies enable an individual
to create, record, and make information available for a public quickly through the
use of these technologies.
Technology enables collaboration in the exchange of ideas and creation of in-
formation in ways not possible previously. For example, teams working together in
a company can collaborate via software or social media platforms to create new
policies, sales strategies, and services while living and working in far-flung offices
or homes.
In these examples, the creation of new information was accomplished. Data
were assembled into new information. However, this is only the first step in the
information transfer process, and the information has little meaning until it is syn-
thesized and recorded.
Recording
After information is created, it must be recorded in some format so that it can
be disseminated and used by others. In the case of formal research, researchers
collected data, and the data were analyzed to reveal trends. The analysis of data
Search WWH ::
Custom Search