|
The word ''data'' has generated considerable controversy on if it is a singular, uncountable noun, or should be treated as the plural of the now-rarely-used ''datum''. ==Usage in English== In one sense, ''data'' is the plural form of ''datum''. ''Datum'' actually can also be a count noun with the plural ''datums'' (see usage in datum article) that can be used with cardinal numbers (e.g. "80 datums"); ''data'' (originally a Latin plural) is not used like a normal count noun with cardinal numbers and can be plural with such plural determiners as ''these'' and ''many'' or as a singular abstract mass noun with a verb in the singular form. Even when a very small quantity of data is referenced (one number, for example) the phrase ''piece of data'' is often used, as opposed to ''datum''. The debate over appropriate usage continues, but "data" as a singular form is far more common.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Elitist, Superfluous, Or Popular? We Polled Americans on the Oxford Comma )〕 In English, the word ''datum'' is still used in the general sense of "an item given". In cartography, geography, nuclear magnetic resonance and technical drawing it is often used to refer to a single specific reference datum from which distances to all other data are measured. Any measurement or result is a ''datum'', though ''data point'' is now far more common. ''Data'' is most often used as a singular mass noun in educated everyday usage.〔New Oxford Dictionary of English, 1999〕〔"...in educated everyday usage as represented by the Guardian newspaper, it is nowadays most often used as a singular." http://www.lexically.net/TimJohns/Kibbitzer/revis006.htm〕 Some major newspapers such as ''The New York Times'' use it either in the singular or plural. In the ''New York Times'' the phrases "the survey data are still being analyzed" and "the first year for which data is available" have appeared within one day.〔 〕 The ''Wall Street Journal'' explicitly allows this usage in its style guide.〔 〕 The Associated Press style guide classifies ''data'' as a collective noun that takes the singular when treated as a unit but the plural when referring to individual items ("The data is sound.", and "The data have been carefully collected."). In scientific writing ''data'' is often treated as a plural, as in ''These data do not support the conclusions'', but the word is also used as a singular mass entity like ''information'', for instance in computing and related disciplines. British usage now widely accepts treating ''data'' as singular in standard English,〔 〕 including everyday newspaper usage〔 〕 at least in non-scientific use.〔 〕 UK scientific publishing still prefers treating it as a plural.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Data: singular or plural? )〕 Some UK university style guides recommend using ''data'' for both singular and plural use〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Singular or plural )〕 and some recommend treating it only as a singular in connection with computers.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=An introduction to data and information )〕 The IEEE Computer Society allows usage of ''data'' as either a mass noun or plural based on author preference,〔 (【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.computer.org/cms/Computer.org/Publications/docs/2014ComputerSocietyStyleGuide.pdf ) 〕 while IEEE in the editorial style manual indicates to always use the plural form.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】url=https://www.ieee.org/documents/style_manual.pdf ) 〕 Some professional organizations and style guides〔 〕 require that authors treat ''data'' as a plural noun. For example, the Air Force Flight Test Center specifically states that the word ''data'' is always plural, never singular.〔 〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「data word」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|