TNPSC General Tamil Important Questions with Answers Download as PDF

1. What is data processing?

• It can be defined as the process of collecting, storing, organizing and manipulating a huge amount of data in a specific transaction.


• The result of data processing is structured information that enables the managers to make valid decisions.


• It helps the organizations in managing the resources effectively and efficiently.

2. What is data Processing System?

A system which includes the resources such as people, procedure and devices that are used to accomplish the processing of data for producing desirable output 

3. Explain Data Processing Stages /cycle:

• Organization


• Input


• Output


• Report

4. Different Stages of data processing cycle: It has 3 important stages in producing useful information. They are

1. Input

2. Processing

3. Output

Input:

• This is the first stage in data processing. It indicates the facts or observations collected, prepared and entered into the computer.


• Once such data is fed into the computer, it performs certain operations as desired and produces the results.

Three steps involved in input stage of data processing.

i. Data collection

ii. Data preparation

iii. Data entry

i. Data Collection:

• Is a process of collecting and gathering of data from different sources.


• A survey conducted to gather some important data or observations.

ii. Data Preparation:

• Is a process of creating the documents for further processing. In this step, the data collected is put into a data sheet.

iii. Data entry:

• Is a process of entering data into the computer for data processing. The data may be entered into the computer through various input devices such as keyboard, optical scanners or magnetic character recognizers. • Eg: To generate marks report of the student, collect roll-no, name, each subject marks

2. Processing:

The data entered has to be processed. This process involves the following five steps.

i. Storage

ii. Retrieval

iii. Categorization

ii`. Organization

iv. Updation

i. Storage: is a computer memory where data is stored permanently for future processing. The data may be stored on a magnetic tape, hard disk or optical disks.

ii. Retrieval: is a process of getting the desired data from storage. There are a set of commands which will help accessing memory and fetching data for processing.

iii. Categorization: is a method, which classifies data into most recent and least recent data. The data can be old or new.

iv. Organization: is a process of arranging data in a specific manner. Data can be arranged in an ascending order or in a descending order. This process is also called sorting.

v. Updation: is a process of adding new data or deleting unwanted records.  For example 

a) When a new batch of students get admitted to the course, data pertaining to this batch is added

to the student information system and when someone discontinues the course, his/her records are

deleted from the system.

b) To generate marks report, to calculate total, average, grade etc.

3. Output:

This is the process of getting the results printed on paper. (Printout)  The printout can be obtained in the following 2 steps.

a. Report generation

b. Inquiry generation

a. Report generation:

Is a process of providing the hard copy output. For eg: after the examination, the results can be printed on paper.

b. Inquiry response:

is a process of providing an individual report on inquiry. For eg: Inquiry about those students who have got distinction, first class, second class and so on.