I don’t chime in much here, but I generally support the position Dan Gilman puts forth. Data is something physical and observable (a point not emphasized
in this discussion) and /may/ have meaning associated with it. Consider data collected by radio telescopes … does it have meaning? Maybe. Words on a page are data; a speech that you listen to at a conference is data. Most importantly, different (physical)
data can convey the same meaning (information), so you can’t equate data/representation with meaning. Data is just a means to an end, e.g., the (possible) representation of meaning.
In this forum, the “data” we’re usually interested in are the sequences and chunks of bits in computing systems. But the statement above still apply: data
is physical thing, usually imbued with meaning by our articulation and interpretation processes (which may be embodied by the software we write.)
Bill
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From: ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Ed Barkmeyer
Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2013 4:03 PM
To: ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [External] Re: [ontolog-forum] What is Data? What is a Datum? 2013-01-09-0930
OK. FWIW, I agree with John's three categories below. But for me, kind (3), a bucket of values, is not "data". It is just "values". And following the Gillman
thread, it is not even clear that it is "values", if you don't know what type the values are supposed to represent. Is 220449999 an integer? a naming string from some registry like tax-id or DUNSid? a code? It is just a sequence of characters until we
have some indication of how to interpret it. And I don't see how that is a 'datum'. Even Dan Gillman's definition requires that we know what kind of individual it represents.
-Ed
On 1/10/2013 5:41 PM, John F Sowa wrote:
Ed,
The distinction I am making is in what the datum is. I argue that
a datum is a proposition. A value without any interpretation is not
a datum. It is a child without a meaning.
That is a reasonable definition. I stated the etymology in my note:
"A datum is anything that is given." Somebody might give you a list
of values without telling you what they mean.
JFS
I would also add that not all data is propositional. For example,
the list of names and numbers in a telephone book consists of paired
instances of two kinds of data. Each pair becomes a proposition
when the instances are inserted in an appropriate schema:
"The person named _________ has the telephone number ________."
EB
I disagree. That is, the meaning of each pair in the telephone
directory is a proposition of that form, and the pair is a datum. It is
not necessary to express the sentence per se.
A telephone book gives us a list of paired values. The intended
propositions are derived by combining the values with some relations.
Instead of quibbling about some email note(s), I suggest that we
classify the kinds of data:
1. Explicit statements of propositions in some language.
2. Values (names, numerals, strings, etc.) in some kind of
structures (tables, lists, graphs) together with some
schema (implicit or explicit) for interpreting the
structures of values as propositions.
3. Values that have become detached from their explanations and
present a puzzle to be solved before they can be interpreted
as propositions.
4. Etc.
John
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