Management Information System (MIS) Practice Exam

What is an accurate statement about data?

1. It can be defined as a representation of reality.

2. It is the ability to understand information.

3. It has no meaning in and of itself.

4. It organizes or manipulates information for tasks.

The correct answer is: It has no meaning in and of itself.

An accurate statement about data is that it has no meaning in and of itself. Data comprises raw facts and figures that, on their own, do not convey specific meaning or context. It is only when data is processed, organized, and interpreted that it becomes useful information. For instance, a number such as "100" could represent temperature, quantity, or score, but without context, it holds no specific meaning. While the other statements hold some truth, they do not capture the intrinsic nature of data as effectively. The idea that data can be defined as a representation of reality suggests that it has an inherent meaning, which isn’t true unless it's contextualized. The ability to understand information pertains more to information itself rather than raw data. Similarly, the organization or manipulation of information relates to how data can be utilized after its conversion into a meaningful format rather than describing data itself.