___________ is the combination of already processed _____________

In computer studies, data and information are related but distinct terms. Data refers to raw, unorganised facts and figures, such as individual numbers, names, or symbols, that on their own do not carry clear meaning. Information is what results after that raw data has been organised, processed, and given context so that it becomes meaningful and useful to a person.

For example, a list of numbers like 70, 65, and 80 is just raw data. Once those numbers are processed, labelled with the students' names and the subject they relate to, and perhaps averaged, they become information such as "the average score in Mathematics is 71.7," which can now support a decision or understanding.

This is why information is described as the combination of already processed data: processing (sorting, calculating, summarising, or interpreting) is the step that transforms scattered data into something coherent. Without that processing step, data remains fragmented and cannot, by itself, be called information.

Exam tip: whenever a question asks what data becomes after processing, the answer is information; whenever it asks what exists before processing, the answer is data. The direction of the transformation only ever runs from data to information, never the reverse.