Question

1. data are observations reflecting differences in the world.

Answer 1

collecting data is only one step in a scientific investigation, and scientific knowledge is much more than a simple compilation of data points. The world is full of observations that can be made, but not every observation constitutes a useful piece of data. For example, your meteorologist could record the outside air temperature every second of the day, but would that make the forecast any more accurate than recording it once an hour? Probably not. All scientists make choices about which data are most relevant to their research and what to do with those data: how to turn a collection of measurements into a useful datasetthrough processing and analysis, and how to interpret those analyzed data in the context of what they already know.

Answer 2

collecting data is only one step in a scientific investigation, and scientific knowledge is much more than a simple compilation of data points. The world is full of observations that can be made, but not every observation constitutes a useful piece of data. For example, your meteorologist could record the outside air temperature every second of the day, but would that make the forecast any more accurate than recording it once an hour? Probably not. All scientists make choices about which data are most relevant to their research and what to do with those data: how to turn a collection of measurements into a useful datasetthrough processing and analysis, and how to interpret those analyzed data in the context of what they already know.