DIGITAL SOCIETY BASICS
This decade is generally associated with computers "becoming a thing."
The 1940s
Define "data."
Raw, unprocessed facts and figures with no meaning on their own
This component is often called "the brain" of the computer.
CPU
Define "table" in the context of a database.
A collection of related records (rows)
Name the first stage of the Data Life Cycle.
Data creation
This 1916 Memphis grocery store is credited as the start of self-service technology.
Piggly Wiggly
Define "information."
Data that has been given context, organized, analyzed, or interpreted
Explain the difference between RAM and storage.
RAM is short-term/active memory that clears when powered off; storage is long-term memory that persists when powered off
What is a primary key? Give one real-world example.
A column that uniquely identifies each record; e.g. student ID, CURP, passport number
Name the three common methods for storing data covered in class.
Text file, spreadsheet, database software (DBMS)
This is one way the Digital Revolution differs from the Industrial Revolution.
The Digital Revolution transformed information; the Industrial Revolution transformed physical labor
The numbers "15, 16, 15, 17, 27, 16.75" are an example of this — data or information? Explain why.
Data — they are raw numbers with no context given yet
Explain why the Power Supply Unit, despite being the least "glamorous" component, is the most fundamental.
Without it, no other component receives power and nothing turns on at all
Differentiate a "record" from a "field."
A record is a full row representing one entity; a field is one column representing one attribute
Explain the difference between primary and secondary data.
Primary data is collected firsthand for a specific purpose; secondary data has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose
Name two causes of the digital divide covered in class.
affordability/cost, lack of infrastructure, digital literacy, generational gap, language barriers, disabilities
Classify "color preferences from a survey" — is it quantitative or qualitative? Structured or unstructured?
Qualitative; can be structured if organized in a spreadsheet/table
Explain why GPUs, originally built for graphics, are now central to AI.
GPUs process many simple calculations in parallel, which fits both rendering millions of pixels and running millions of small AI calculations
A student can take many courses, and a course can have many students. What type of relationship is this?
Many-to-many
In a CSV file, what character separates each field within a row, and why is that useful?
A comma; it lets us distinguish one field from another and easily add more fields to a record
Mexico ranks #63 and Singapore ranks #1 in internet speed. Explain what that gap could mean for two students in different countries.
unequal access to online resources/education/opportunity despite both being "connected"
Explain, using your own example, how the same raw data can become different information depending on context.
Context changes interpretation (e.g. a list of numbers could be ages, temperatures, or scores depending on context)
Explain why a motherboard failure disables an otherwise fully working CPU and GPU.
The motherboard connects every component so they can communicate; without it, components can't talk to each other even if each one works fine individually
Given three linked tables (Project, Department, Manager), explain how you would trace the manager responsible for a specific project.
Follow the shared key columns across tables — Project links to Department via department number, Department links to Manager via manager ID/SSN
Explain why an organization might move from a simple spreadsheet to a full Database Management System (DBMS) as their data grows.
handling more complex/related data across multiple tables, supporting many simultaneous users, stronger security, and more powerful querying than a spreadsheet allows