Whether you subscribe to the scientific definition of data (information on which operations are performed by a computer transmitted in the form of electrical signals) or the philosophical definition (that which is known utilized as the basis of reasoning or calculation), MountainTop Data CEO Sky Cassidy thinks most people use the word “data” incorrectly.
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“If you’re a data scientist or you become upset that this will be the only time I use the singular form “datum,” this article will probably disgust you, and I apologize. On the other hand, if you’re in marketing, sales or just about any other department then hopefully this will help to clarify the overused but super useful word, ‘data’,” Cassidy says.
Cassidy explains that one of the roots of the problem with the word data is when it is used as a pronoun. It is overused and causes confusion. Confusion is the enemy, particularly in sales and marketing. Data is a useful word because it’s short and within a group that works with the same type of data, it can be used like a pronoun to reference what everyone knows you’re talking about. “Imagine you’re at a party. You ask someone you’ve just met what they do for a living, and they answer: ‘I work in data’. They might as well have said ‘stuff’, it really means nothing on its own. So, what could they have said?” says Cassidy.
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Following are 6 categories of data. There are many more niches of data, but these 6 are a good way to start, a good foundation. It’s useful to mention that while information is generally thought of as something of value that is extracted from “data”—re: the DIKW Pyramid—our practical use of the word “data” will not be getting that technical.
Simply put data is facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis. The one big hole that definition leaves—you could shoehorn it in there with a law degree—is data used in direct sales and marketing. “We could argue about whether that is ‘data’ or ‘information’ and I’d be technically wrong, but everyone refers to it as ‘data,’ so we’ll keep it in the practical sphere of ‘data’ here,” Cassidy says.
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