Steve Mahoney business Chapter 7 questions

Q1:Differeniate data and information?
A1: Data is distinct pieces of information, usually formatted[->0] in a special way. All software[->1] is divided into two general categories: data and programs[->2]. Programs are collections of instructions[->3] for manipulating data.
Data can exist in a variety of forms -- as numbers or text[->4] on pieces of paper, as bits[->5] and bytes[->6] stored[->7] in electronic memory[->8], or as facts stored in a person's mind.
Strictly speaking, data is the plural of datum, a single piece of information. In practice, however, people use data as both the singular and plural form of the word. The term data is often used to distinguish binary[->9] machine-readable information from textual human-readable information. For example, some applications[->10] make a distinction between data files (files[->11] that contain binary data) and text files[->12] (files that contain ASCII[->13] data). In database management systems[->14], data files are the files that store the database[->15] information, whereas other files, such as index[->16] files and data dictionaries, store administrative information, known as metadata[->17].

Information (shortened as info or info.) is that which informs, i.e. an answer to a question, as well as that from which knowledge[->18] and data[->19] can be derived (as data represents values attributed to parameters, and knowledge signifies understanding of real things or abstract concepts).[1] As it regards data, the information's existence is not necessarily coupled to an observer (it exists beyond an event horizon[->20], for example), while in the case of knowledge, the information requires a cognitive observer.
At its most fundamental, information is any propagation of cause and effect within a system. Information is conveyed[->21] either as the content of a