What are pieces of information such as people's names, account numbers, and addresses referred to as?

Pieces of information such as people's names, account numbers, and addresses are referred to as data elements because they represent individual measurable properties or characteristics of data. In the context of data organization, a data element is the smallest unit of data that has a specific meaning and can be used to identify or describe something.

For example, in a database of customers, each customer's name, address, and account number would each be considered distinct data elements, as they each provide specific, identifiable pieces of information. Understanding data elements is crucial in data analysis, as they serve as the foundational building blocks for constructing larger data sets, where multiple data elements may come together to form a more comprehensive picture of the data being analyzed.