What is the term for specific data categories within a computer database?

The term used to describe specific data categories within a computer database is "fields." In database terminology, a field represents a single piece of data within a record. Each field is designated to hold particular types of data, such as a name, date, or number, and together, they form the structure for organizing information within a database.

For example, in a database for storing information about patients, fields might include the patient’s name, age, address, and medical history. Each field corresponds to a specific attribute of the patient data, allowing for clear categorization and retrieval of information.

The other terms like records refer to complete sets of data stored together, typically comprised of multiple fields. Files are collections of records, and entries generally refer to the individual instances of data that are input into the database or fields but do not represent the structure of the data itself. Thus, "fields" accurately describes the specific categories of data that are critical for organizing and managing information in a database context.