Data Processing is any process that converts data into information. The processing is usually assumed to be automated and running on an electronic computer.
In this context data is defined as a collection of numbers or characters that represent a measurement from the real world. Information is defined as a meaningful answer to a query.
More generally, the term data processing can apply to any process that converts data from one format to another, although data conversion would be the more logical and correct term. From this perspective, data processing becomes the process of convering information into data and also the converting of data back into information. The distinction is that conversion doesn't require a question (query) to be answered. For Example, information in the form of an string of characters forming a sentence in English is converted or encoded at a keyboard into ASCII code afterwhich it may be more easily processed by a computer and finally converted or decoded to be displayed as characters on the computer display.