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Information processing Revision

Objectives Content Content/Notes/Responses Explanatory notes

points/questions

Distinguish - What is data? Data is all the raw facts and figures that a
between data - What is computer processes While information is
and information? data with meaning or processed data.
information.
Ways in which data can be processed to
become information:
 Carry out calculations in a
spreadsheet.
 Printing a document or image
 Searching a document or database
for a particular item of data.
 Updating data in a file.
 Displaying an image on the screen.
 Sorting data into alphabetical order.
Data/information is collected for:
Culture, Leisure, Work, Research,
Planning and Decision making.
Sources of information:
Measurement (Sales, cash receipt and
productivity output)
Informal communication (word of
mouth, meetings)
Publications (Hurricane preparedness
tips, Trends in chronic diseases)
Questionnaires (Opinion polls, market
research)
What makes information useful? It
must be:
- Relevant
- Accurate
- Timely
- Complete
- Cost-effective
- In an appropriate medium

Define the term - What is Information processing refers to computer- Examples of Manual IS:
information information based systems that take in data and  Address books
processing and processing? generate information.  Dictionaries
information - What are  Telephone directories
systems information An Information system (IS) is a record-  School timetables.
systems? keeping system in which data is collected,
processed and displayed in order to provide Examples of Electronic IS:
useful information.  Insurances databases
 School databases (e.g.
Renweb)

Give - List at least Adv: DisAdv:

advantages and two - Data and information can be shared -Some staff must be trained or
disadvantages advantages with other computers retrained
of information and two - Overall security can be increased due to -Face-to-face interaction between staff
processing. disadvantages less human intervention may be reduced.
of information - Automation can be introduced. That is, -It may need high initial investment in
processing. tasks can be completed with little equipment and training.
human intervention -Some jobs may be lost as a result of
- Efficiency and productivity can be raised. computerization, which may lower
- Running cost becomes lower over time the morale of staff members
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Objectives Content Content/Notes/Responses Explanatory notes

points/questions

Explain the What are the Forms of information processing: Control systems are systems that use
characteristics forms of computers to control machinery.
and functions information - Automation: e.g. household appliances
of information processing? (washing machine, microwaves etc.) Examples of control systems:
processing.
- Process control: used in manufacturing, Automation and process control.
alarm systems, AC systems.
An Automation system is a
- Commercial: used in supermarkets, banks straightforward type of control system
etc. in which tasks are carried out
- Industrial: used in factories automatically. E.g. Washing machine

- Scientific: used in scientific research, Process control systems are a type of

health care and weather forecasting control system often used in
manufacturing in which actions are
changed depending on feedback from
sensors. E.g. Alarm system

Identify the - What are A source document is one that contains
sources of data source data that is going to be input into a
in specified documents, computer system. (E.g. data on an
application turnaround application form)
areas. documents,
machine and A human –readable document is any
human document that needs to be read by humans.
readable (E.g. a form)
documents?
Machine-readable document is one on
which the data can be ‘read’ by an input
device, such as a scanner or mark reader.
(E.g. Barcodes on a book, Multiple choice
answer sheets)
A turnaround document is a machine-
readable document that has some
information printed on it by a computer but
has more information added to it by a
human. It is then fed back into a computer
to transfer this newly added information.
(E.g. Multiple choice sheets, Utility bills,
such as water bills, with perforated section
that is completed by the customer and then
used as input)
On a multiple-choice sheet,
information such as candidate
number, subject and school code is
printed on the answer sheet by the
computer. The student takes the test
and fills in the answer grid by making
marks in the appropriate boxes using a
pencil or ballpoint pen. The form is
then returned to the examination
council to be fed into a special reader.
OCR and OMR can be used to read
turnaround documents
Turnaround documents allow cheap,
fast input of information into a
computer system. Data can also be
printed on turnaround documents in
barcode format.
Handheld devices are used as
alternatives to turnaround documents.
Data logging is a method of automatic
data capture where a reading from a
sensor is input at regular intervals. This
data can then be processed to provide
analysis of the environment.

Objectives Content Content/Notes/Responses
points/questions
Describe - What is the Data validation is the computerized
methods of difference checking of input data for errors before it is
validation and between processed while Data verification is the
verification of validation and checking for mistakes such as transcription
data verification? errors when data is copied from one
- Describe medium or device to another.
methods of
validation (Validation checks for the reasonableness
- Describe and completeness of data while verification
methods of checks on the accuracy of data moved from
verification medium to the next)
Methods of validation:
Presence check – This type of check
ensures that the data is actually entered
and can be used on any field in a
database. For example, everyone in a
particular database must be given a job
title. Therefore a presence check could
be carried out on the form field in each
employee’s record to ensure that a job
title is entered in the form.
Data type check – This is also known as
character or alphanumeric check. This
will check the data entered in a particular
field in a database to determine if it is of
the correct type. E.g. Text data cannot be
entered in a NUMBER data type field.
Consistency check – This check compares
the contents of two or more fields to
make sure that they make sense. There
are occasions when some data fields are
related. This check compares new data
with previous data.
Range check – Range check ensures that
the data entered is within a certain
range. For example, when you enter a
number corresponding to a month of the
year, the range of acceptable numbers is
1 to 12.
Parity checks – All data is transmitted as
a sequence of 1s and 0s. A common type
of error that occurs during data
transmission is that a bit is swapped from
a 0 to a 1 or a 1 to a 0 by electrical
interference. Parity checks detect this
type of error, by adding an extra digit to
data to make the total number of 1s (or
0s) either odd or even. (Parity checks are
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Explanatory notes
Data Errors: data that may be
unreasonable or incomplete.
Typographical/transposition error-
These errors occur at data entry. E.g.
the number 32 may be entered as 23.
Accidental errors occur
unintentionally: data is entered or
a command is issued by mistake,
in good faith but in error.
Deliberate: If errors are made
deliberately then the user
probably knows enough to get
round any validation checks.
Examples include a disgruntled
employee entering fictitious data
into a company’s database.
Software and hardware errors
Software might malfunction, erasing
or corrupting previously entered
data. Hardware may develop a fault
that corrupts data; examples of such
faults are bad sectors on hard disk or
bad memory, or a power surge. The
application may appear to accept
data correctly but when that data is
retrieved it is corrupt.
Transmission errors
Transmission errors occur when data
is sent from one computer to
another. The data received by one
system is the not the same as that by
the sender.
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not very good at detecting errors where

more than one bit in a byte is changed.
Note too that a parity check can also be
considered a verification check rather
than a validation check since the parity
check ensures that data is correctly
transferred from one location to
another.)
Check digit – This is an extra digit added
to the end of a code. It is used to detect
errors arising from transcription and also
to ensure that codes originally produced
by a computer are re-entered into
another computer correctly. It is
calculated from the other digits in the
number. Check digits are included in
barcode numbers.
Reasonableness check - identifies data
that are questionable, but not necessarily
wrong. E.g. A student who is age 20
enrolled in a high school sixth form
program.

Methods of Verification:

 Double entry - is where the same data is

entered twice, sometimes by different
people.

 Visual check - use on-screen prompts.

After a set of data is entered, it is
redisplayed on the screen. The user is
prompted to read it and confirm that it
has been entered correctly. If the user
has entered any data incorrectly, it is re-
entered.

 Conformation instructions – messages

are displayed on the screen to confirm an
action. For example, if you try to delete
files the computer may ask ‘Are you sure
[y/n]?’ or it may display a summary of
input data and ask for verification of its
validity before the data is stored.
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Objectives Content Content/Notes/Responses Explanatory notes

points/questions

Describe What is file File organization and access relates to the A file has three important
various organization and use of records, fields and files. characteristics:
methods of file access?
organization - Whether it is a permanent or a
and access Differentiate A master file is a permanent file which is temporary file.
among the terms kept-up-to-date and stores the main
Master file, information, summary data and key fields in - The way in which the records of
transaction file the data. (The master file before update is the file are organized on the
and transaction secondary storage device. This is
called the old master file or grandfather file)
called file organization.
log.
A transaction file is a temporary file which is
- The way in which records are
Describe file used to update the master file after a accessed (or located).
organization and certain time (at the end of each day or
access methods. week, for example). The master file contains two types
of data:
A transaction log (change file), keeps a  permanent data, such as employee
record of changes to the transaction file. personal data, payroll data
employee status and job title
Characteristic of each file:
 Less permanent data, which is
 Master file – Permanent updated on a regular basis, such as
 Transaction File – Temporary hours worked and taxes deducted.
 Transaction log – Permanent
 Grandfather file – Temporary The records in the transaction file
are used to perform three important
operations:

 Add: put a new record into the

master file.
 Update: change the contents of a
record or a field that already exists.
 Delete: remove a record from the
master file.

-
File organization (How files are stored): Type of ordering (Ordered, unordered
or both):
Sequential file ordering – this is where
records are stored in a logical order.  Sequential – ordered
(Example payroll information and customer
records can be arranged in ascending order  Serial – unordered
by surname).
 Random/direct – unordered
Serial File ordering – this is where files are
stored one after the other as they are  Index sequential – both
added. This is done in no particular order, ordered and unordered
similar to new items added to a to-do list.
(E.g. capturing transactions during the
course of the day)
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Random file ordering, also known as direct
access file ordering is where files are stored
in any order.
Index sequential file ordering uses an
indexed file to store records. That is,
records are stored in this file in
sequential order and a set of indices are
used to refer to each item stored in the
file. This file ordering is a combination of
sequential and random file ordering and
is used when records need to be sorted
in sequence but individual records must
be quickly accessible.
File access (How files are retrieved):
Sequential access refers to accessing
records one by one in the order they
were stored until the right one is
reached.
Serial access works in the same way as
sequential access, the records are read one
by one in the order they were stored until
the desired record is found.
Using methods of ordering and
access
Examples:
A bank stores data about its daily
transactions using magnetic tape,
which stores data using sequential
file ordering. Therefore sequential
access is used to access those
records.
A school will have a record for
each student, stored on a file.
Each student's record must be
accessible to review or update
information, but all records must
be printed out at the end of each
school year to allocate students to
new classes. This type of setup
would benefit from direct and
sequential file ordering, so index
sequential file ordering and access
is probably the best system to use.

Random access or direct access,

allows you to access the record you
want without having to go through any
others. The computer locates the data
item using the indices.

Index sequential file ordering uses

both types of access to search for
records. Sequential access is used to
go through each record, and direct
access is used to find a specific record.