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60-458: The term "chart" as a graphical representation of data has multiple meanings: Charts are often used to ease understanding of large quantities of data and the relationships between parts of the data. Charts can usually be read more quickly than the raw data. They are used in a wide variety of fields, and can be created by hand (often on graph paper ) or by computer using a charting application . Certain types of charts are more useful for presenting

120-797: A computational process . Data may represent abstract ideas or concrete measurements. Data are commonly used in scientific research , economics , and virtually every other form of human organizational activity. Examples of data sets include price indices (such as the consumer price index ), unemployment rates , literacy rates, and census data. In this context, data represent the raw facts and figures from which useful information can be extracted. Data are collected using techniques such as measurement , observation , query , or analysis , and are typically represented as numbers or characters that may be further processed . Field data are data that are collected in an uncontrolled, in-situ environment. Experimental data are data that are generated in

180-661: A fact-finding commission"). Facts may be checked by reason, experiment, personal experience, or may be argued from authority. Roger Bacon wrote "If in other sciences we should arrive at certainty without doubt and truth without error, it behooves us to place the foundations of knowledge in mathematics." In philosophy , the concept fact is considered in the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge, called epistemology and ontology , which studies concepts such as existence , being , becoming , and reality . Questions of objectivity and truth are closely associated with questions of fact. A fact can be defined as something that

240-419: A grid of lines may appear to aid in the visual alignment of data. The grid can be enhanced by visually emphasizing the lines at regular or significant graduations. The emphasized lines are then called major gridlines, and the remainder is minor grid lines. A chart's data can appear in all manner of formats and may include individual textual labels describing the datum associated with the indicated position in

300-402: A line chart . A chart can take a large variety of forms. However, there are common features that provide the chart with its ability to extract meaning from data. Typically the data in a chart is represented graphically since humans can infer meaning from pictures more quickly than from text. Thus, the text is generally used only to annotate the data. One of the most important uses of text in

360-488: A mass noun in singular form. This usage is common in everyday language and in technical and scientific fields such as software development and computer science . One example of this usage is the term " big data ". When used more specifically to refer to the processing and analysis of sets of data, the term retains its plural form. This usage is common in the natural sciences, life sciences, social sciences, software development and computer science, and grew in popularity in

420-446: A matter under discussion deemed to be true or correct, such as to emphasize a point or prove a disputed issue; (e.g., "... the fact of the matter is ..."). Alternatively, fact may also indicate an allegation or stipulation of something that may or may not be a true fact , (e.g., "the author's facts are not trustworthy"). This alternate usage, although contested by some, has a long history in standard English according to

480-436: A basis for calculation, reasoning, or discussion. Data can range from abstract ideas to concrete measurements, including, but not limited to, statistics . Thematically connected data presented in some relevant context can be viewed as information . Contextually connected pieces of information can then be described as data insights or intelligence . The stock of insights and intelligence that accumulate over time resulting from

540-402: A circumstance. Standard reference works are often used to check facts . Scientific facts are verified by repeatable careful observation or measurement by experiments or other means. For example, "This sentence contains words." accurately describes a linguistic fact, and "The sun is a star" accurately describes an astronomical fact. Further, " Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of

600-584: A climber's guidebook containing practical information on the best way to reach Mount Everest's peak may be considered "knowledge". "Information" bears a diversity of meanings that range from everyday usage to technical use. This view, however, has also been argued to reverse how data emerges from information, and information from knowledge. Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern , perception, and representation. Beynon-Davies uses

660-404: A common view, data is collected and analyzed; data only becomes information suitable for making decisions once it has been analyzed in some fashion. One can say that the extent to which a set of data is informative to someone depends on the extent to which it is unexpected by that person. The amount of information contained in a data stream may be characterized by its Shannon entropy . Knowledge

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720-659: A description of other data. A similar yet earlier term for metadata is "ancillary data." The prototypical example of metadata is the library catalog, which is a description of the contents of books. Whenever data needs to be registered, data exists in the form of a data document . Kinds of data documents include: Some of these data documents (data repositories, data studies, data sets, and software) are indexed in Data Citation Indexes , while data papers are indexed in traditional bibliographic databases, e.g., Science Citation Index . Gathering data can be accomplished through

780-553: A few decades. Scientific publishers and libraries have been struggling with this problem for a few decades, and there is still no satisfactory solution for the long-term storage of data over centuries or even for eternity. Data accessibility . Another problem is that much scientific data is never published or deposited in data repositories such as databases . In a recent survey, data was requested from 516 studies that were published between 2 and 22 years earlier, but less than one out of five of these studies were able or willing to provide

840-405: A given data set than others. For example, data that presents percentages in different groups (such as "satisfied, not satisfied, unsure") are often displayed in a pie chart , but maybe more easily understood when presented in a horizontal bar chart . On the other hand, data that represents numbers that change over a period of time (such as "annual revenue from 1990 to 2000") might be best shown as

900-477: A graph is the title . A graph's title usually appears above the main graphic and provides a succinct description of what the data in the graph refers to. Dimensions in the data are often displayed on axes . If a horizontal and a vertical axis are used, they are usually referred to as the x-axis and y-axis. Each axis will have a scale , denoted by periodic graduations and usually accompanied by numerical or categorical indications. Each axis will typically also have

960-403: A label displayed outside or beside it, briefly describing the dimension represented. If the scale is numerical, the label will often be suffixed with the unit of that scale in parentheses. For example, "Distance traveled (m)" is a typical x-axis label and would mean that the distance traveled, in units of meters, is related to the horizontal position of the data within the chart. Within the graph,

1020-457: A phenomenon or idea. There are dozens of other types of charts. Here are some of them: One more example: Bernal chart While charts can be drawn by hand, computer software is often used to automatically produce a chart based on entered data. For examples of commonly used software tools, see List of charting software . Data In common usage and statistics , data ( / ˈ d eɪ t ə / , also US : / ˈ d æ t ə / )

1080-470: A primary source (the researcher is the first person to obtain the data) or a secondary source (the researcher obtains the data that has already been collected by other sources, such as data disseminated in a scientific journal). Data analysis methodologies vary and include data triangulation and data percolation. The latter offers an articulate method of collecting, classifying, and analyzing data using five possible angles of analysis (at least three) to maximize

1140-412: Is (in fact) the case if its antecedent is (in fact) true—for example, "If you drink this, it will make you well." Such sentences are important to modal logic , especially since the development of possible world semantics. In mathematics, a fact is a statement (called a theorem ) that can be proven by logical argument from certain axioms and definitions . The definition of a scientific fact

1200-503: Is about the fact that Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Pascal Engel's version of the correspondence theory of truth explains that what makes a sentence true is that it corresponds to a fact. This theory presupposes the existence of an objective world. The Slingshot argument claims to show that all true statements stand for the same thing, the truth value true . If this argument holds, and facts are taken to be what true statements stand for, then one arrives at

1260-514: Is History? argues that the inherent biases from the gathering of facts makes the objective truth of any historical perspective idealistic and impossible. Facts are, "like fish in the Ocean", of which we may only happen to catch a few, only an indication of what is below the surface. Even a dragnet cannot tell us for certain what it would be like to live below the Ocean's surface. Even if we do not discard any facts (or fish) presented, we will always miss

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1320-504: Is a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information , describing the quantity , quality , fact , statistics , other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted formally . A datum is an individual value in a collection of data. Data are usually organized into structures such as tables that provide additional context and meaning, and may themselves be used as data in larger structures. Data may be used as variables in

1380-438: Is different from the definition of fact, as it implies knowledge . A scientific fact is the result of a repeatable careful observation or measurement by experimentation or other means, also called empirical evidence . These are central to building scientific theories . Various forms of observation and measurement lead to fundamental questions about the scientific method , and the scope and validity of scientific reasoning . In

1440-494: Is such a place as Paris, there is such a place as France, there are such things as capital cities, as well as that France has a government, that the government of France has the power to define its capital city, and that the French government has chosen Paris to be the capital, that there is such a thing as a place or a government , and so on. The verifiable accuracy of all of these assertions, if facts themselves, may coincide to create

1500-405: Is the awareness of its environment that some entity possesses, whereas data merely communicates that knowledge. For example, the entry in a database specifying the height of Mount Everest is a datum that communicates a precisely-measured value. This measurement may be included in a book along with other data on Mount Everest to describe the mountain in a manner useful for those who wish to decide on

1560-502: Is the case" dates from the mid-16th century. Barbara J. Shapiro wrote in her book A Culture of Fact how the concept of a fact evolved, starting within the English legal tradition of the 16th century. In 1870, Charles Sanders Peirce described in his book "The Fixation of Belief" four methods which people use to decide what they should believe: tenacity, method of authority, a priori and scientific method. The term fact also indicates

1620-412: Is the case, in other words, a state of affairs . Facts may be understood as information , which makes a true sentence true: "A fact is, traditionally, the worldly correlate of a true proposition, a state of affairs whose obtaining makes that proposition true." Facts may also be understood as those things to which a true sentence refers. The statement "Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system"

1680-443: Is the longevity of data. Scientific research generates huge amounts of data, especially in genomics and astronomy , but also in the medical sciences , e.g. in medical imaging . In the past, scientific data has been published in papers and books, stored in libraries, but more recently practically all data is stored on hard drives or optical discs . However, in contrast to paper, these storage devices may become unreadable after

1740-404: Is the plural of datum , "(thing) given," and the neuter past participle of dare , "to give". The first English use of the word "data" is from the 1640s. The word "data" was first used to mean "transmissible and storable computer information" in 1946. The expression "data processing" was first used in 1954. When "data" is used more generally as a synonym for "information", it is treated as

1800-535: Is used in both senses in the philosophy of science. Scholars and clinical researchers in both the social and natural sciences have written about numerous questions and theories that arise in the attempt to clarify the fundamental nature of scientific fact. Pertinent issues raised by this inquiry include: Consistent with the idea of confirmation holism , some scholars assert "fact" to be necessarily "theory-laden" to some degree. Thomas Kuhn points out that knowing what facts to measure, and how to measure them, requires

1860-534: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. The Oxford English Dictionary dates this use to 1729. Fact may also indicate findings derived through a process of evaluation , including review of testimony, direct observation, or otherwise; as distinguishable from matters of inference or speculation. This use is reflected in the terms "fact-find" and "fact-finder" (e.g., "set up

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1920-478: The naturalistic fallacy . Factuality —what has occurred—can also be contrasted with counterfactuality: what might have occurred, but did not. A counterfactual conditional or subjunctive conditional is a conditional (or "if–then") statement indicating what would be the case if events had been other than they were. For example, "If Alexander had lived, his empire would have been greater than Rome." This contrasts with an indicative conditional, which indicates what

1980-443: The 20th and 21st centuries. Some style guides do not recognize the different meanings of the term and simply recommend the form that best suits the target audience of the guide. For example, APA style as of the 7th edition requires "data" to be treated as a plural form. Data, information , knowledge , and wisdom are closely related concepts, but each has its role concerning the other, and each term has its meaning. According to

2040-605: The United States" and "Abraham Lincoln was assassinated" both accurately describe historical facts. Generally speaking, facts are independent of belief and of knowledge and opinion . Facts are different from inferences , theories , values , and objects . The word fact derives from the Latin factum . It was first used in English with the same meaning: "a thing done or performed" – a meaning now obsolete. The common usage of "something that has really occurred or

2100-420: The act of observation as constitutive, is offered as an alternative to data for visual representations in the humanities. The term data-driven is a neologism applied to an activity which is primarily compelled by data over all other factors. Data-driven applications include data-driven programming and data-driven journalism . Fact A fact is a true datum about one or more aspects of

2160-433: The best method to climb it. Awareness of the characteristics represented by this data is knowledge. Data are often assumed to be the least abstract concept, information the next least, and knowledge the most abstract. In this view, data becomes information by interpretation; e.g., the height of Mount Everest is generally considered "data", a book on Mount Everest geological characteristics may be considered "information", and

2220-434: The binary alphabet. Some special forms of data are distinguished. A computer program is a collection of data, that can be interpreted as instructions. Most computer languages make a distinction between programs and the other data on which programs operate, but in some languages, notably Lisp and similar languages, programs are essentially indistinguishable from other data. It is also useful to distinguish metadata , that is,

2280-403: The case to be derived from a series of statements of what is the case. This is called the is–ought distinction . Those who insist there is a logical gulf between facts and values , such that it is fallacious to attempt to derive values (e.g., "it is good to give food to hungry people") from facts (e.g., "people will die if they can't eat"), include G. E. Moore , who called attempting to do so

2340-493: The chart and an example of their appearance. This information allows the data from each variable to be identified in the chart. Four of the most common charts are: This gallery shows: Other common charts are: Examples of less common charts are: This gallery shows: Some types of charts have specific uses in a certain field This gallery shows: Other examples: Some of the better-known named charts are: Some specific charts have become well known by effectively explaining

2400-424: The chart. The data may appear as dots or shapes, connected or unconnected, and in any combination of colors and patterns. In addition, inferences or points of interest can be overlaid directly on the graph to further aid information extraction. When the data appearing in a chart contains multiple variables, the chart may include a legend (also known as a key ). A legend contains a list of the variables appearing in

2460-617: The concept of a sign to differentiate between data and information; data is a series of symbols, while information occurs when the symbols are used to refer to something. Before the development of computing devices and machines, people had to manually collect data and impose patterns on it. With the development of computing devices and machines, these devices can also collect data. In the 2010s, computers were widely used in many fields to collect data and sort or process it, in disciplines ranging from marketing , analysis of social service usage by citizens to scientific research. These patterns in

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2520-426: The counter-intuitive conclusion that there is only one fact: the truth . Any non-trivial true statement about reality is necessarily an abstraction composed of a complex of objects and properties or relations . Facts "possess internal structure, being complexes of objects and properties or relations". For example, the fact described by the true statement "Paris is the capital city of France" implies that there

2580-444: The course of a controlled scientific experiment. Data are analyzed using techniques such as calculation , reasoning , discussion, presentation , visualization , or other forms of post-analysis. Prior to analysis, raw data (or unprocessed data) is typically cleaned: Outliers are removed, and obvious instrument or data entry errors are corrected. Data can be seen as the smallest units of factual information that can be used as

2640-408: The data are seen as information that can be used to enhance knowledge. These patterns may be interpreted as " truth " (though "truth" can be a subjective concept) and may be authorized as aesthetic and ethical criteria in some disciplines or cultures. Events that leave behind perceivable physical or virtual remains can be traced back through data. Marks are no longer considered data once the link between

2700-523: The ethos of data as "given". Peter Checkland introduced the term capta (from the Latin capere , "to take") to distinguish between an immense number of possible data and a sub-set of them, to which attention is oriented. Johanna Drucker has argued that since the humanities affirm knowledge production as "situated, partial, and constitutive," using data may introduce assumptions that are counterproductive, for example that phenomena are discrete or are observer-independent. The term capta , which emphasizes

2760-405: The fact, that Paris is the capital of France. Difficulties arise, however, in attempting to identify the constituent parts of negative, modal, disjunctive, or moral facts. Moral philosophers since David Hume have debated whether values are objective, and thus factual. In A Treatise of Human Nature Hume pointed out there is no obvious way for a series of statements about what ought to be

2820-482: The general concept and analysis of fact reflects fundamental principles of jurisprudence , and is supported by several well-established standards. Matters of fact have various formal definitions under common law jurisdictions. These include: A party (e.g., plaintiff ) to a civil suit generally must clearly state the relevant allegations of fact that form the basis of a claim . The requisite level of precision and particularity of these allegations varies, depending on

2880-416: The majority; the site of our fishing, the methods undertaken, the weather and even luck play a vital role in what we will catch. Additionally, the composition of history is inevitably made up by the compilation of many different biases of fact finding – all compounded over time. He concludes that for a historian to attempt a more objective method, one must accept that history can only aspire to a conversation of

2940-538: The mark and observation is broken. Mechanical computing devices are classified according to how they represent data. An analog computer represents a datum as a voltage, distance, position, or other physical quantity. A digital computer represents a piece of data as a sequence of symbols drawn from a fixed alphabet . The most common digital computers use a binary alphabet, that is, an alphabet of two characters typically denoted "0" and "1". More familiar representations, such as numbers or letters, are then constructed from

3000-433: The means and assumptions used to measure them. Apart from the fundamental inquiry into the nature of scientific fact, there remain the practical and social considerations of how fact is investigated, established, and substantiated through the proper application of the scientific method. Scientific facts are generally believed independent of the observer: no matter who performs a scientific experiment, all observers agree on

3060-471: The most basic sense, a scientific fact is an objective and verifiable observation, in contrast with a hypothesis or theory , which is intended to explain or interpret facts. Various scholars have offered significant refinements to this basic formulation. Philosophers and scientists are careful to distinguish between: 1) states of affairs in the external world and 2) assertions of fact that may be considered relevant in scientific analysis. The term

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3120-434: The outcome. In addition to these considerations, there are the social and institutional measures, such as peer review and accreditation, that are intended to promote factual accuracy among other interests in scientific study. A common rhetorical cliché states, " History is written by the winners ". This phrase suggests but does not examine the use of facts in the writing of history. E. H. Carr in his 1961 volume What

3180-522: The petabyte scale. Using traditional data analysis methods and computing, working with such large (and growing) datasets is difficult, even impossible. (Theoretically speaking, infinite data would yield infinite information, which would render extracting insights or intelligence impossible.) In response, the relatively new field of data science uses machine learning (and other artificial intelligence (AI)) methods that allow for efficient applications of analytic methods to big data. The Latin word data

3240-590: The present with the past – and that one's methods of fact gathering should be openly examined. The set of highlighted historical facts, and their interpretations, therefore changes over time, and reflect present consensuses. This section of the article emphasizes common law jurisprudence as primarily represented in Anglo-American–based legal tradition. Nevertheless, the principles described herein have analogous treatment in other legal systems such as civil law systems as well. In most common law jurisdictions,

3300-405: The problem of reproducibility is the attempt to require FAIR data , that is, data that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Data that fulfills these requirements can be used in subsequent research and thus advances science and technology. Although data is also increasingly used in other fields, it has been suggested that the highly interpretive nature of them might be at odds with

3360-448: The requested data. Overall, the likelihood of retrieving data dropped by 17% each year after publication. Similarly, a survey of 100 datasets in Dryad found that more than half lacked the details to reproduce the research results from these studies. This shows the dire situation of access to scientific data that is not published or does not have enough details to be reproduced. A solution to

3420-457: The research's objectivity and permit an understanding of the phenomena under investigation as complete as possible: qualitative and quantitative methods, literature reviews (including scholarly articles), interviews with experts, and computer simulation. The data is thereafter "percolated" using a series of pre-determined steps so as to extract the most relevant information. An important field in computer science , technology , and library science

3480-406: The rules of civil procedure and jurisdiction. Parties who face uncertainties regarding facts and circumstances attendant to their side in a dispute may sometimes invoke alternative pleading. In this situation, a party may plead separate sets of facts that when considered together may be contradictory or mutually exclusive. This seemingly logically-inconsistent presentation of facts may be necessary as

3540-474: The synthesis of data into information, can then be described as knowledge . Data has been described as "the new oil of the digital economy ". Data, as a general concept , refers to the fact that some existing information or knowledge is represented or coded in some form suitable for better usage or processing . Advances in computing technologies have led to the advent of big data , which usually refers to very large quantities of data, usually at

3600-410: The use of other theories. For example, the age of fossils is based on radiometric dating , which is justified by reasoning that radioactive decay follows a Poisson process rather than a Bernoulli process . Similarly, Percy Williams Bridgman is credited with the methodological position known as operationalism , which asserts that all observations are not only influenced, but necessarily defined, by

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