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Online shopping sites track which products people look at, which ones they add to
their basket and which ones they actually buy. Streaming apps remember which
songs you play again and again and which ones you skip after five seconds. News
websites record which stories are read the most. All of this creates a continuous,
never-ending flow of data through the Internet every second.
Ethical Minds
Everything you do online such as tapping a like button or filling out a school form creates a trail
of data, you must be careful about what personal details you share.
TYPES OF DATA
Not all data looks the same or is stored in the same way. Some data is neatly
arranged and easy to read, while other data is more mixed up and harder to sort.
Scientists who work with data usually divide it into two broad groups: structured
data and unstructured data.
Structured Data
Structured data is information arranged in a clear and tidy way,
usually in rows and columns, just like a table or a spreadsheet.
Each piece of information has its own fixed place, which makes it
very easy for a computer to read, sort and search through.
Think about your school report card. Each row shows one subject and each column
shows a particular piece of information, such as marks, grade and teacher’s
remarks. The data is neat and predictable. Here are some other familiar examples
of structured data:
A cricket scoreboard showing runs, wickets and overs for each team.
A class timetable showing which subject is taught in each period.
A library record showing the name of a book, its author and whether it has been
borrowed.
A school fee receipt listing the amount paid, the date and the student’s name.
Unstructured Data
Unstructured data does not follow a fixed
pattern. It comes in many different forms and
is much harder for a computer to sort by itself.
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