<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
is	O
the	O
collection	O
and	O
manipulation	O
of	O
digital	O
data	O
to	O
produce	O
meaningful	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
information	O
processing	O
,	O
which	O
is	O
the	O
modification	O
(	O
processing	O
)	O
of	O
information	O
in	O
any	O
manner	O
detectable	O
by	O
an	O
observer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
"	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Processing	I-General_Concept
"	O
,	O
or	O
"	O
DP	O
"	O
has	O
also	O
been	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
a	O
department	O
within	O
an	O
organization	O
responsible	O
for	O
the	O
operation	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
may	O
involve	O
various	O
processes	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Sorting	B-Algorithm
"	O
arranging	O
items	O
in	O
some	O
sequence	O
and/or	O
in	O
different	O
sets.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Classification	B-General_Concept
separation	O
of	O
data	O
into	O
various	O
categories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
United	O
States	O
Census	O
Bureau	O
history	O
illustrates	O
the	O
evolution	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
from	O
manual	O
through	O
electronic	O
procedures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
widespread	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
term	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
dates	O
only	O
from	O
the	O
1950	O
's	O
,	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
functions	O
have	O
been	O
performed	O
manually	O
for	O
millennia	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Completely	O
manual	O
methods	O
were	O
augmented	O
by	O
the	O
application	O
of	O
mechanical	O
or	O
electronic	O
calculators	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
person	O
whose	O
job	O
was	O
to	O
perform	O
calculations	O
manually	O
or	O
using	O
a	O
calculator	B-Application
was	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
computer.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
automatic	B-Application
data	I-Application
processing	I-Application
was	O
applied	O
to	O
operations	O
performed	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
unit	O
record	O
equipment	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Herman	O
Hollerith	O
's	O
application	O
of	O
punched	B-Architecture
card	I-Architecture
equipment	O
for	O
the	O
1890	O
United	O
States	O
Census	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
"	O
Using	O
Hollerith	O
's	O
punchcard	B-Architecture
equipment	O
,	O
the	O
Census	O
Office	O
was	O
able	O
to	O
complete	O
tabulating	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
1890	O
census	O
data	O
in	O
2	O
to	O
3	O
years	O
,	O
compared	O
with	O
7	O
to	O
8	O
years	O
for	O
the	O
1880	O
census	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Computerized	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
,	O
or	O
Electronic	B-Application
data	I-Application
processing	I-Application
represents	O
a	O
later	O
development	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
computer	O
used	O
instead	O
of	O
several	O
independent	O
pieces	O
of	O
equipment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Census	O
Bureau	O
first	O
made	O
limited	O
use	O
of	O
electronic	O
computers	O
for	O
the	O
1950	O
United	O
States	O
Census	O
,	O
using	O
a	O
UNIVAC	B-Operating_System
I	I-Operating_System
system	O
,	O
delivered	O
in	O
1952	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
term	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
has	O
mostly	O
been	O
subsumed	O
by	O
the	O
more	O
general	O
term	O
information	B-General_Concept
technology	I-General_Concept
(	O
IT	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
older	O
term	O
"	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
"	O
is	O
suggestive	O
of	O
older	O
technologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
1996	O
the	O
Data	B-General_Concept
Processing	I-General_Concept
Management	I-General_Concept
Association	I-General_Concept
(	O
DPMA	O
)	O
changed	O
its	O
name	O
to	O
the	O
Association	B-General_Concept
of	I-General_Concept
Information	I-General_Concept
Technology	I-General_Concept
Professionals	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Commercial	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
involves	O
a	O
large	O
volume	O
of	O
input	B-General_Concept
data	I-General_Concept
,	O
relatively	O
few	O
computational	O
operations	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
large	O
volume	O
of	O
output	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
science	O
and	O
engineering	O
,	O
the	O
terms	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
and	O
information	O
systems	O
are	O
considered	O
too	O
broad	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
term	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
is	O
typically	O
used	O
for	O
the	O
initial	O
stage	O
followed	O
by	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
in	O
the	O
second	O
stage	O
of	O
the	O
overall	O
data	O
handling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Data	B-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
uses	O
specialized	O
algorithms	O
and	O
statistical	O
calculations	O
that	O
are	O
less	O
often	O
observed	O
in	O
a	O
typical	O
general	O
business	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
data	B-General_Concept
analysis	I-General_Concept
,	O
software	O
suites	O
like	O
SPSS	B-Algorithm
or	O
SAS	B-Language
,	O
or	O
their	O
free	O
counterparts	O
such	O
as	O
DAP	B-Application
,	O
gretl	B-Application
or	O
PSPP	B-Language
are	O
often	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
system	O
is	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
machines	O
,	O
people	O
,	O
and	O
processes	O
that	O
for	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
inputs	B-General_Concept
produces	O
a	O
defined	O
set	O
of	O
outputs	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
inputs	B-General_Concept
and	O
outputs	B-General_Concept
are	O
interpreted	O
as	O
data	O
,	O
facts	O
,	O
information	O
etc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
regard	O
particularly	O
to	O
electronic	B-Application
data	I-Application
processing	I-Application
,	O
the	O
corresponding	O
concept	O
is	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
electronic	B-Application
data	I-Application
processing	I-Application
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
very	O
simple	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
data	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
system	O
is	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
maintaining	O
a	O
check	O
register	O
.	O
</s>
