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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Financial systems and technology

A manager receives a long report of raw sales figures by till, hour and product, but cannot use it to decide on staffing. Which statement correctly distinguishes data from information?

Data becomes information when it is processed, organised and given context so that it is meaningful and useful for decision-making. The manager's raw till figures are data. Information would be a summary, such as busiest hours, that supports staffing decisions.

  1. AData becomes information when it is processed into a form that is meaningful and useful for a decisionCorrect
  2. BData and information are the same thing, just stored in different systems
  3. CInformation is raw facts, while data is the processed output given to managers
  4. DData is only numerical, while information is only narrative text

Explanation

Data is raw, unprocessed facts and figures. It becomes information once processed, organised and put in context so it has meaning for a decision. The option reversing the terms is wrong because information is the processed output.

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