2022-02-01
ศัพท์ น่าสับสน - Set – D – data & datum
แนะนำการใช้ ตามที่ส่วนใหญ่ใช้ แต่ละท้องถิ่น
ความหมาย อาจผันแปร ตาม ตำแหน่ง/หน้าที่ ในประโยค
Dictionary.com:
ออกเสียง data = “DAY-tuh” or “DAT-uh” or “DAH-tuh”
ออกเสียง datum = “DEY-tuhm” or “DAT-uhm” or “DAH-tuhm”
Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions:
data
This term, meaning “facts,” “information,”
“statistics,” is really the plural of datum.
In general use, however,
data now appears as a singular and plural collective noun.
The plural construction (These data are ….. )
is appropriate in formal usage, although
“This data is ….. “is more often used.
The use ofdatum anddata is not entirely comparable to
that ofagendum andagenda.
Agenda convey such a strong sense of the singular
that it has loosely developed its own plural, agendums.
This situation does not apply todata, which has no coined plural.
Those who usedata as a singular obviously regard it
as meaning “a body” or “a store” of information.
Strictly formal writers and speakers
presumably willcontinue to use a plural verb withdata,
but majority will employ a singular or plural verb as they choose.
Common Errors in English Usage Dictionary
Data & datum
There are several words with Latin or Greek roots
whose plural forms ending in A
are constantly mistaken for singular ones.
See, for instance, criteria and media.
“Datum” is so rare now in English
that people may assume “data” has no singular form.
Many American usage communities, however,
use “data” as a singular andsome have even gone so far
as to invent “datums” as a new plural.
This is a case where you need to know the patterns of your context.
An engineer or scientist used to writing
“the data is” may well find that
the editors of a journal or publishing house
insist on changing this phrase to “the data are.”
Usage is so evenly split in this case
that there is no automatic way of determining which is right;
but writers addressing an international audience of nonspecialists
would probably be safer treating “data” as plural.
Dictionary.com:
USAGE NOTE FOR DATA
Data is a plural of datum,
which is originally a Latin noun meaning “something given.”
Today, data is used in English both as a plural noun
meaning “facts or pieces of information”
(These data are described more fully elsewhere)
and as a singular mass noun meaning “information”
(Not much data is available on flood control in Brazil) .
It is almost always treated as a plural in scientific and academic writing.
In the digital or computer sense it is usually treated
as a mass noun and used with a singular verb.
In other types of writing it is either singular or plural.
The Latinate singular datum meaning “a piece of information”
is now rare in all types of writing.
In surveying and civil engineering,
where datum has specialized senses,
the plural form is datums.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary:
Is data singular or plural?: Usage Guide
Data leads a life of its own quite independent of datum,
of which it was originally the plural.
It occurs in two constructions:
as a plural noun (like earnings),
taking a plural verb and plural modifiers (such as these, many, a few)
but not cardinal numbers,
and serving as a referent for plural pronouns (such as they, them);
and as an abstract mass noun (like information),
taking a singular verb and singular modifiers (such as this, much, little),
and being referred to by a singular pronoun (it).
Both constructions are standard.
The plural construction is more common in print,
evidently because the house style of several publishers mandates it.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language:
Usage Note:
The word data is the plural of Latin datum, "something given."
In English, most notably in scientific usage,
this plural usage is still common,
as in this example:
"Eventually, his data suggest,
a tumor's ... alterations give rise to mutant cells" (Janet Raloff).
But data is also standard in
denoting a singular mass entity (like information),
especially in writing for a more general audience:
"Before data is transmitted in bulk around the internet,
it is routinely compressed to reduce redundancy" (Richard Dawkins).
"Goodall ... wanted to get as much data as possible from her animals before she had to leave them" (Elizabeth Royte).
· In our 2005 survey, 66 percent of the Usage Panel
accepted the use of data with a singular verb and pronoun
in the sentence
Once the data is in, we can begin to analyze it.
Fully 92 percent accepted the sentence
We have very little data on the efficacy of such programs,
the same percentage that accepted the use of data as a plural noun.
(Note that the quantifier very little,
like much in the last quotation given above,
is not used with plural nouns such as facts or results.)
The percentages in the 2005 survey represent significant increases
over those of our 1988 survey,
making it safe to say that singular data has become a standard usage.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary:
Usage
In scientific writing, data is usually treated as a singular
in much the same way as the word information is.
We say When the data comes in, we'll understand what happened.
But because the word is historically the plural of the Latin noun datum,
it is sometimes used as a plural,
as in These data do not support your conclusions.
The plural use is less frequent than the singular.
Collins COBUILD English Usage:
Data is information, usually in the form of facts or statistics
that can be analysed.
Such tasks require the worker to process a large amount of data.
This will make the data easier to collect.
Data is usually regarded as an uncountable noun
and is used with a singular form of a verb.
2010 is the latest year for which data is available.
The latest data shows that lending fell by 10% in May.
People usually say this data, rather than 'these data'.
Processing this data only takes a moment.
In some formal and scientific writing,
data is used with a plural form of a verb,
and these data is used instead of 'this data'.
The economic data are inconclusive.
To cope with these data, hospitals bought large mainframe computers.
In other kinds of writing and in conversation,
people usually use data as an uncountable noun.
