Tidy rows, or loose things
The same marks can reach a computer in four forms.
The rule
Structured data fits rows and columns. Unstructured data does not.
Structured data has a fixed shape. A table of marks is structured. Each value has a fixed place. So a program can sort, search or total it.
Unstructured data has no fixed shape. Photos, sound recordings, videos and paragraphs of writing are unstructured. A program needs extra work before it can use them. Nothing tells the program where each value is.
A photo of a table is still a photo. The computer sees one picture, not rows and columns.
| Form | Rows and columns? | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Typed in a spreadsheet | Yes | Structured |
| A photo of the sheet | No | Unstructured |
| A voice note | No | Unstructured |
| A paragraph of words | No | Unstructured |
Pick a form. Try to sort it. If it fails, type it into a table.
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