One of the prevailing concepts within information science is the data-information-knowledge-wisdom (DIKW) hierarchy that grew out of a 1989 paper by Ackoff titled From Data to Wisdom. There are legitimate critiques of this framework. No framework is perfect. However, it is helpful in that it gives us a way of thinking about how humans construct our ways of knowing the worlds around and within us.
One of the complications of this framework is the variety of definitions for each of the elements in the ‘hierarchy’ (Rowley, 2007). What is data? What is information? Etc. To muddy the waters even further, I present my own definitions as they apply to the purpose of this post:
- Data = observed factual elements*
- Information = organized data
- Knowledge = processed information
- Wisdom = applied knowledge
Further, the language of “hierarchy” implies some elements are superior to others, and in fact some authors have specifically charted the values of the types within the hierarchy (Chaffey & Wood, 2005). But as we librarians know, value is in the eye of the knowledge seeker. The “value” of the element depends on what we are asking of it.
It is more appropriate to think in terms of a pyramid, where the foundational element, in this case data, is essential to the existence of the rest of the structure. Information could not exist without data. Knowledge could not exist without information, etc. Therefore, for this post, I refer to it as the DIKW pyramid, which is also common enough in the academic literature.
As I’ve been thinking through this pyramid and its implications for requests for research support from students and faculty, I am drawn to how many connections I can draw between it and the process of conducting an advanced review.
Both begin with data—individual facts. Before anything else, we must gather all of the relevant facts that we can for our particular need.
Information lives just above data on the pyramid, and maps neatly with the analysis stage within an advanced review. This is where things begin to come together. We see how the data relate to one another and their contexts.
From there, we synthesize, or process, the information into knowledge. This is where understanding and meaning form.
At the top lives wisdom. I see a connection between this and a review’s recommendations for policy, theory, or research. It is how we apply our synthesized knowledge into real-world implications.
This connection between the DIKW framework and advanced reviews also enables us to understand how our decisions can be biased or manipulated. Just as in the construction of a rigorous review, the quality of the data collected for any type of knowledge development is vital to the quality of the end product. Bias introduced in data gathering leads to biased information, which leads to biased knowledge, and therefore, biased application of that knowledge.
I mentioned in a previous blog post that information synthesis is something our brains do naturally. Knowledge development naturally follows this path. The trick is to do it intentionally, and not allow our brains’ penchant for heuristics (mental shortcuts) to climb the pyramid for us.
References
Ackoff, R.L. (1989). From data to wisdom. Journal of Applied Systems Analysis, 16, 3–9.
Chaffey, D. & Wood, S. (2005). Business Information Management: Improving Performance Using Information Systems. Financial Times: New York.
Rowley, J. (2007). The wisdom hierarchy: representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science, 33(2), 163-180. https://doi-org.10.1177/0165551506070706
*Definition of data informed by:
Dodge, Y. (2008). Data. In: The Concise Encyclopedia of Statistics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi-org.libproxy.unl.edu/10.1007/978-0-387-32833-1_96
Garwood, J. (2006). Data. In The SAGE Dictionary of Social Research Methods, 58. SAGE Publications, Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020116
Cramer, D., & Howitt, D. (2004). Data. In The SAGE Dictionary of Statistics, 54-47. SAGE Publications, Ltd, https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857020123
Schwandt, T. A. (2007). Data. In The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry, 3 ed. 61-61). SAGE Publications, Inc., https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412986281
Rowley, J. (2007). The wisdom hierarchy: representations of the DIKW hierarchy. Journal of Information Science, 33(2), 163-180. https://doi-org.10.1177/0165551506070706