What Is Data Processing Cycle?

It is Sequence of steps performed repeatedly by a computer in the execution of a program. The computer's central processing unit (CPU) continuously works through a loop, involving fetching a program instruction from memory, fetching any data it needs, operating on the data, and storing the result in the memory, before fetching another program instruction. I hope that answers your question ;)

Enumerate and explain the 3 stages of data processing cycle

It is a process wherein the raw facts or data are being installed,manipulated,and transformed inside the computer.It is processed and edited to obtain meaningful results or useful information.It is the process of obtaining the desired results from the available data being gathered.It has three main phases:

1. The INPUT- it is the data and instructions that are entered into the computer.
2. The PROCESS-it is the transformation of data into meaningful information.
3. The OUTPUT-it is the result of the processed data. It is also known as information.

The data-processing cycle involves many different
interdependant activities. The number and nature of these
activities will largely depend on the technology used to process
the census forms (see section F below). As an example,
the diagram below shows the major activities that may comprise
a census processing system using key entry. The order
of these activities may vary depending on the technology
used. If key entry is not used (e.g., optical mark recognition
or intelligent character recognition is used instead), the
coding activity will take place after balancing.
As can be seen in the above diagram, the processing phase
is a client area of the enumeration phase and, as such, relies
on the quality of the output from that phase. The dissemination
phase is the major client area of the output from the
processing phase and, again, relies on the quality of the output
produced by the processing system.
The quality and quantity of output from each activity in
the processing cycle has a direct effect on the success or
otherwise of the next activity and other activities downstream.
It is also important to note that, in this example, all
activities interact with one another through ongoing quality
assurance. This can become evident at any stage. For example,
the staff undertaking validation may detect problems
that are the result of inadequate procedures and/or training
in one of the other activities (e.g., receipt and registration).
While data processing can to a large extent be regarded
as a linear cycle, all activities will usually be concurrent.
Initial activities such as receipt and registration will commence
first, but the other activities will commence shortly
thereafter as soon as sufficient workloads have been completed
by the initial activities. It is important that the flow
of forms between activities is managed and coordinated
carefully to ensure that each activity has sufficient forms
for all staff. A buffer or backlog of forms should be established
between each activity (e.g., two weeks of work),
which will ensure that staff do not run out of forms to process.
For example, using the system described in diagram
IV.2 above, the data-capture activity should not commence
until there are sufficient numbers of forms for two weeks of
processing. If it takes one week for this amount of forms to
be processed by all of the activities before data capture, then
data capture would not commence until the third week.

Categories of data processing

3 additional steps in data processing cycle

Input------>Processing------>Output

Analysis of data requires:
1) Editing,
2) Coding,
3) Classification, and
4) Tabulation

Data Processing Cycle is basically a sequence or series taken in order to execute a program. All these sequences or series are repeated after certain intervals of time to give best results. Here is research paper writer who guides me perfectly about data processing cycles and its need in today's life.

Input -processing-output

Give the steps of data processing cycle