Data is taken to mean discrete bits of information. For most research now, data are converted into numerical form for processing by computers. Data-subjects are the people about whom data are collected. Databases are collections of data, recorded in standardized fashion, ordered for reference or research purposes. Database research , then, is research that analyzes data in such collections.
Information is data set within a context of meaning.
And before any scientific meaning can be inferred, the data must be tied with data on other characteristics of the data-subjects and the circumstances. Personally identifiable data are data that are associated with real persons, or that can be associated with real persons by deduction from descriptors such as birthdate, physical characteristics, occupation, residential location, social identification number, or history. So many kinds of health data are collected that it would be distracting and soporific to do more here than take note of the major categories. All kinds of data may reveal intimate information. Prescription data, for instance, often indicate the disease, or at least the kind of disease, being treated.