Data are characteristics or information, usually numeric, that are collected through observation.[1] In a more technical sense, data are a set of values of qualitative or quantitative variables about one or more persons or objects, while a datum (singular of data) is a single value of a single variable.[2] Although the terms "data" and "information" are often used interchangeably, these terms have distinct meanings. In some popular publications, data are sometimes said to be transformed into information when they are viewed in context or in post-analysis.[3] However, in academic treatments of the subject data are simply units of information.