Critical Data Studies in the Academy
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Transcript of Critical Data Studies in the Academy
Dr Tracey P. LauriaultCommunication StudiesSchool of Journalism and [email protected]@TraceyLauriault
Critical Data Studies in the Academy
November 4, 2015Faculty of Publ ic Affairs
Bagels and BanterB454 Loeb
Carleton Universi ty, 24 APRIL 2015
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
TOC1. Critical Data Studies2. Data Science3. Reasoning4. In the Academy
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DATA AND EVERYDAY LIFE
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DATA ARE EVEN A PLATFORM!
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Research and thinking that applies critical social theory to data to explore the ways in which they are never simply neutral objective independent raw representations of the world
Data are instead understood to be: situated contingent relational contextual and do active work in the world
CRITICAL DATA STUDIES
Image Source: A data culture for everyone, Official Microsoft Blog, Posted April 15, 2014 By Satya Nadella - Chief Executive
Officer, Microsoft, http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2014/04/15/a-data-culture-for-
everyone/
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
1. Situate data regimes in time and space2. Expose data as inherently political and
whose interests they serve3. Unpack the complex, non-deterministic
relationship between data and society4. Illustrate the ways in which data are never
raw5. Expose the fallacies that data can speak for
themselves and that big data will replace small data
6. Explore how new data regimes can be used in socially progressive ways
7. Examine how academia engages with new data regimes and the opportunities of such engagement.
7 PROVOCATIONS
Craig Dalton and Jim Thatcher, 2014, What does a critical data studies look like, and why do we care? Seven points for a critical approach to ‘big data’, The Society and Space,
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space
(The government is ready with a roadmap to capture interstate trade data,
considered as essential for the proposed Goods and Service
Tax regime, )
Image Source: Economic Times, Indicators page, 2013
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-03-13/news/37683866_1_trade-data-interstate-trade-inter-state-trade
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Unpack the complex assemblages that produce, circulate, share/sell and utilise data in diverse ways; Chart the diverse work they do and their consequences for how the world is known, governed and lived-in; Survey the wider landscape of data assemblages and how they interact to form intersecting data products, services and markets and shape policy and regulation.
CRITICAL DATA STUDIES VISION
Image Source: General Dynamics IT Publish Health Data Whitepapers, 2014, http://www.itwnetworks.com/blog/view/general-dynamics-it-publish-
health-data-whitepapersRob Kitchin and Tracey P. Lauriault, Forthcoming, Toward a Critical Data Studies: Charting and Unpacking Data
Assemblages and their Work, in J. Eckert,, A. Shears & J. Thatcher, Geoweb and Big Data, University of Nebraska Press , Pre-Print http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2474112
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
KITCHIN’S DATA ASSEMBLAGE
Material Platform(infrastructure – hardware)
Code Platform(operating system)
Code/algorithms (software)
Data(base)
Interface
Reception/Operation (user/usage)
Systems of thought
Forms of knowledge
Finance
Political economies
Governmentalities & legalities
Organisations and institutions
Subjectivities and communities
Marketplace
System/process performs a task
Contextframes the system/task
Digital socio-technical assemblage
HCI, remediation studies
Critical code studiesSoftware studies
Critical data studies
New media studiesgame studies
Critical Social ScienceScience Technology
Studies
Platform studies
Places
Practices
Flowline/Lifecycle
The Data Revolution (2014) Sage
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Are more than the unique arrangement of objective and politically neutral facts
&they do not exist independently of ideas,
techniques, technologies, systems, people and contexts regardless of them being presented in
that way
DATA – BIG OR SMALL
Tracey P. Lauriault, 2012, Data, Infrastructures and Geographical Imaginations. Ph.D. Thesis, Carleton University, Ottawa, http://curve.carleton.ca/theses/27431
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
DATA SCIENCE Master’s Program
Communication Studies (Thesis or Research Essay)
Biology* (thesis) Biomedical Engineering* (thesis) Business (concentration) Computer Science* (thesis) Economics (thesis or coursework) Electrical and Computer Engineering* (thesis, project or coursework)
Geography (MSc thesis)*These are part of the joint institutes with the University of Ottawa
Institute The aim is to support interdisciplinary research and graduate studies in Data Science through research seminars, interdisciplinary research groups, joint events with industry and our joint Masters program in Data Science. Seminars Data Day Research Groups IBM CasCon
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
Another quantitative revolution is taking place – reification of data at the expense of other forms of knowing
Concurrently there is an aversion to evidence informed decision making
Renaissance of probability – neo-liberal version How we know about ourselves and where we live is mediated and narrated with data
The datafication of people and the geocoding of everything is producing new subjects to govern, a powerful biopolitics
Uneven social and political relations - there are blank spots on the map, there are invisible people, and there are data shadows
Along with methodological issues, access to the means of counting and the production of numbers is uneven
To adapt we need new synthesis and political sophistication
A NEW KIND OF NUMERACY IS REQUIRED
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
PUBLIC AFFAIRS African Studies (UG + MA) Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs Public Affairs and Policy Management (UG)
Global and International Studies (UG)
Political Management (MA) Criminology and Criminal Justice (UG)
Economics (UG + MA + PhD) European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (UG + MA)
International Affairs (MA) Infrastructure Protection & International Security
Journalism and Communication (UG + MA + Phd)
Law and Legal Studies (Grad) Conflict ResolutionPolitical Economy (MA?)Political Science (UG +MA + PhD)Public Policy and Administration (MA) Indigenous Policy and Administration (MA + Diploma)
Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership (MA + Diploma)
Public Administration (MA + PhD) Public Policy (PhD) Sustainable Energy Policy (MA)
Social Work
Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, Communication Studies, Carleton University
QUESTIONS Data Science Program? Faculty of Public Affairs? Research Methods? Statistics? Research Methods? Library & Data Management?