Learn the difference between unstructured and structured data with examples like social media posts, math grades, family trees and more. Prepare for the IBM AI Fundamentals Exam.
Table of Contents
Question
Which of the following do you think might be an example of unstructured data?
A. How far you walked to visit a friend
B. Your math grades in high school
C. Your social media posts
D. Your family tree
Answer
C. Your social media posts
Explanation
Your social media posts are an example of unstructured data.
Social media posts are a prime example of unstructured data. Unstructured data refers to information that either does not have a pre-defined data model or is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured data is typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well.
Social media posts have no predefined format – they can contain text, images, videos, links and more in any order. The data is not cleanly categorized into specific fields like a structured database. Posts are freeform and variable in nature.
In contrast, the other options represent structured data:
(A) How far you walked to visit a friend – this would be a numeric value in a consistent unit like miles or kilometers, fitting into a predefined data type.
(B) Your math grades in high school – grades are categorical data fitting into a predefined range like letters A-F or numbers 0-100. The subject and semester provide additional structure.
(D) Your family tree – family trees have a well-defined hierarchical structure with clear relationships like parent, child, sibling, etc. The data fits neatly into a genealogical data model.
So in summary, social media posts are the only example given of unstructured data, while the distance walked, grades, and family trees are all structured data that fit into predefined data models. The freeform and highly variable nature of social media content makes it unstructured.
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