¶ Glossary

Attributes are the describing characteristics or properties that define all items pertaining to a certain category applied to all cells of a column.

Data is a collection of facts, statistics, measurements, and the like that are recorded (or should be recorded) using standardized methods.

Data collection is a systematic process of gathering observations or measurements.

Data Visualization is a graphical representation of data.

Metadata is often simply defined as "data about data" or "information about information".

Data points are single units of data or single observations, e.g., a single measurement or a single geolocation point.

A Database is a systematic collection of data.

Dataset (or data set) is a collection of data. Typically, it is structured and housed in a tabular form (e.g., a spreadsheet).

The data life cycle represents all of the stages of data throughout its life from its creation for a study to its distribution and reuse. The data lifecycle begins with a researcher(s) developing a concept for a study; once a study concept is developed, data is then collected for that study.

Data Literacy is the ability to read, understand, create, and communicate data as information.

Geospatial data is defined in the ISO/TC 211 series of standards as data and information having an implicit or explicit association with a location relative to Earth.

Quantitative data relates to the quantity of something, and typical examples of quantitative data are numbers.

Qualitative data is used to characterize objects or observations, which can be collected in a non-numerical and non-binary way, such as languages.

Structure data refers to data that resides in a fixed field within a file or record, e.g., spreadsheet.

Unstructured data refers to a bucket of content or data points that are not organized and categorized, e.g., PDF files, image files.