MIS Ch 5 (Exam 2)

Data Rot

Refers to problems with the media on which data are stored (e.g., old discs becoming unreadable).

Data Degradation

Problems with the data itself (e.g., a customer changes their address and the record becomes outdated).

Data Governance

An approach to managing information across an entire organization using a formal set of business processes and policies.

Master Data

A set of core data (e.g., customer, product, employee) that covers a company's complete business operations.

Bit

The smallest unit of data a computer can process (0 or 1).

Byte

A group of 8 bits; represents a single character (letter, number, or symbol).

Field

A logical grouping of characters into a word or small group of words (e.g., Last Name).

Record

A logical grouping of related fields (e.g., a student’s name, ID, and GPA).

Data File (Table)

A logical grouping of related records.

Database

A logical grouping of related files/tables.

Data Redundancy

The same data stored in multiple locations (A problem databases try to fix).

Data Isolation

Applications cannot access data associated with other applications.

Data Inconsistency

Various copies of the data do not agree (e.g., two different addresses for one person).

Entity

A person, place, thing, or event (e.g., CUSTOMER). Think of this as the Table.

Instance

A specific, unique representation of an entity (e.g., a specific customer name). Think of this as a Row.

Attribute

Each characteristic or quality of a particular entity. Think of this as a Column.

Primary Key

A field in a database that uniquely identifies each record so that it can be retrieved and updated.

Foreign Key

A field in one table that uniquely identifies a row of another table; used to link tables together.

Big Data (Gartner’s Definition)

Diverse, high-volume, high-velocity information assets that require new forms of processing.

The 3 V's of Big Data

Volume (Size), Velocity (Speed of flow), and Variety (Types: structured/unstructured).