Information Systems Components Lecture Notes 1

Exam 1 Study Guide Chapter 2: Information Systems Components Information is made up of 5 basic components 1. Hardware: the physical components that do much of the work (ex- mouse, monitor, CPU, and hard drive) 2. Software: the instructions that tell the hardware what to do (also called programs or applications). 3. Data: the facts and figures that are processed into information. 4. People: the human components that do the work the hardware cannot. 5. Procedures: instructions that tell the people what to do. Be able to identify these five components in an example! Chapter 3: Information Quality Data vs. Information o Data are the raw facts that are input into an information system.  Manipulated in some way o Information is the output of information systems  Must be able to make a decision based on the output, if no decision can be made this is still considered data. Information Quality o Analyze output as information if it meets the following criteria  Content: refers to the data used to make the output. Look out for inaccuracies, omissions, or inclusion of unnecessary data. Considered high quality if data is accurate, complete, and concise.  Time: refers to the time period covered by the data as well as the timing of the production of the output. Consider when the output was produced and if it is still relevant to your decision making. Should also be available to the decision maker whenever needed.  Form: refers more to how the data was processed Data should be processed with the appropriate level of detail (detailed data, groupings of data, or grand totals/summary of data). Also checks to see that output is in the appropriate order for the decision at hand Information Literacy o Identifying the information needed for a decision  Think about the data that goes into the information and how you might obtain that data o Understanding the meaning of information o Acting appropriately based on the information Chapter 4: Spreadsheet Design: Simplicity Spreadsheet implementation: knowing which features are available in Excel, and which icons and buttons to select to invoke those features. o Spreadsheet design refers to the decisions made prior to implementation. Types of Spreadsheets o Throwaway Spreadsheets: spreadsheets only intended to use once.  Generally being used as a calculator or presentation tool o Reusable Spreadsheets: spreadsheets that you use routinely  Want to make sure the spreadsheet is easy to change as the business environment changes; also hope to not introduce errors as edited. Spreadsheet Lifecycle o Development Phase: design goals are defined; we will determine the layout, formatting and functionality of the spreadsheet. We will also document and test the spreadsheet o Use Phase: we will enter data and produce outputs on a routine basis.  We may still make modifications in this stage to layout, formatting, or functionality in response to changing environment however they should be minor tasks. Spreadsheet Design Goals o All spreadsheets should be Simple, Clear, Verifiable, Accurate, and Efficient. Simplicity o Has two specific design goals that will make your spreadsheet simple:  The spreadsheet layout should include only one idea per row and one idea per column.  Data that will be analyzed as a unit should be placed in columns rather than rows. Numbers that will be compared most often should be placed in columns. Chapter 5: Spreadsheet Design: Clarity There are four guidelines for keeping your spreadsheets clear: o Unity: data about similar ideas should be visible in adjacent cells.  It is important that all data is accessible with its row and column headings. (Freeze Panes)  Also unify printed spreadsheets buy using landscape view and also by printing titles on every page. o Delineation: similar items should be visually connected and dissimilar items should be visually separated.  Encourages you to use formatting to use formatting to establish barriers between various components of a worksheet.  Blank rows and columns within the data tend to degrade the performance of some of the algorithms included in Excel. o Order: a logical organization should be applied within and among groups of cells containing related data.  This organization may be alphabetical, numerical, chronological, or based on importance/some other order. o Emphasis: encourages us to highlight important components  Can be used to highlight certain sections of a spreadsheet or can be used with conditional formatting.  Also can be used to change Sheet tab color to draw the eye. Other Important Notes from Lectures Levels of Detail o Detailed = lowest level of detail o Grand Total = highest level of detail Information Ethics o Misrepresent Data: making the numbers look better than they really are. For example, finding a data set and claiming that it covered the population as a whole. o Fabricate Data: completely making up data all together o Conceal Information: holding back information that should be shared. o Acquire Unauthorized Information: real information but has been received by the wrong person o Misdirected Data: similar to acquiring unauthorized information; you get the wrong information/information that was not meant for you to receive. Types of Data Analytics o Descriptive Analytics: think diaper example from class, looking at data in some fashion. What happened? o Diagnostic Analytics: what happened in the past and why. Why did it happen? o Predictive Analytics: predict what will happen in the future based on past data. What will happen? o Prescriptive/Disruptive Analytics: make decisions and analyze data actually doing it. How can we make it happen? Big Data o Delimiter: commas or other symbols used to separate values for boundaries of csv or text files.