OCR Level 3
Cambridge Technicals
in IT
Unit 2: Information
Systems
Data v Information
Most businesses generate, and often record,
huge volumes of data about a wide range of
activities:
Data v Information
But humans are not good at understanding and drawing
conclusions from large quantities of raw data.
In order for the data to
become useful it must be
analysed and formatted.
People can then use
it to inform their
decision making.
Data Analysis
Often data analysis will consist of comparing two
variables against each other to see if there is a
relationship.
If there is a correlation
between the variables the
next step may be to look for
trends and to understand
how one variable influences
the other.
Data Analysis
Very often one of the variables used to analyse data is
time, as we look to see if variables are increasing or
decreasing over time, and whether there are cyclical
patterns in the data.
Data Management
It is important to ensure that the data used for any
analysis is ‘good’ data, so that any information derived
from it is most likely to be correct.
‘Good’ data is accurate,
relevant, complete, objective
and current.
Information Systems
There are various types of information systems,
including:
Office
systems
Transaction
processing
systems
Knowledge
management
systems
Most information systems are
designed to help people handle large
amounts of information, understand
complex variables, and control
simultaneous processes.
Database
management
systems
What will you learn?
After completing this unit you will:
Understand how
organisations gather, analyse
and use data
Be able to explain the
characteristics of ‘good’ data
Be able to select and use data
to support business activities
Be able to present data in
an appropriate format for
specific purposes
Thank you for using
this OCR resource.
Other OCR resources are available
at www.ocr.org.uk
To give us feedback on, or ideas about, the OCR resources you
have used e-mail resourcesfeedback@ocr.org.uk