Week 8
The Politics of Data
data | ˈdeɪtə |
noun [mass noun]
facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis: there is very little data available.
the quantities, characters, or symbols on which operations are performed by a computer, which may be stored and transmitted in the form of electrical signals and recorded on magnetic, optical, or mechanical recording media.
What is Big Data?
We define Big Data as a cultural, technological, and scholarly phenomenon that rests on the interplay of:
Technology: maximizing computation power and algorithmic accuracy to gather, analyze, link, and compare large data sets.
Analysis: drawing on large data sets to identify patterns in order to make economic, social, technical, and legal claims.
Mythology: the widespread belief that large data sets offer a higher form of intelligence and knowledge that can generate insights that were previously impossible, with the aura of truth, objectivity, and accuracy.
danah boyd & Kate Crawford (2012, p. 663)
Critical Questions for Big Data
- Big Data changes the definition of knowledge
We must ask difficult questions of Big Data’s models of intelligibility before they crystallize into new orthodoxies.
Six provocations on Big Data
danah boyd & Kate Crawford (2012, p.666)
- Claims to objectivity and accuracy are misleading
All researchers are interpreters of data. […] A data set may have many millions of pieces of data, but this does not mean it is random or representative. To make statistical claims about a data set, we need to know where data is coming from; it is simi- larly important to know and account for the weaknesses in that data. Further- more, researchers must be able to account for the biases in their interpretation of the data.
Six provocations on Big Data
danah boyd & Kate Crawford (2012, pp.667-668)
- Bigger data are not always better data
- Taken out of context, Big Data loses its meaning
- Just because it is accessible does not make it ethical
- Limited access to Big Data creates new digital divides
Most researchers who have computational skills at the present moment are male and, as feminist historians and philosophers of science have demonstrated, who is asking the questions determines which questions are asked.
Situated knowledges or “views from somewhere”
Donna Haraway (1988, p. 590)
Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective
standpoint theory: a social theory arguing that group location in hierarchical power relations produces common challenges for individuals in those groups. Moreover, shared experiences can foster similar angles of vision leading to group knowledge or standpoint deemed essential for informed political action.
Patricia Hill Collins (2000, p.300)
BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment
epistemology: standards used to assess knowledge or why we believe what we believe to be true.
Patricia Hill Collins (2000, p.299)
BLACK FEMINIST THOUGHT: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment
Data Visualization/Information Graphics and
Visual Epistemology
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information:
- Representation of numbers should match the true proportions.
- Labeling should be clear and detailed.
- Design should not vary for some ulterior motive, show only data variation.
- To represent money, well known units are best.
- The number of dimensions represented should be the same as the number of dimensions in the data.
- Representations should not imply unintended context.
Information Design
Edward Tufte’s 6 Principles of Graphical Integrity
.txt - Working with words
Graphing words - Bar Chart
Working with words - Text Size
Words Spiral
Map from CSV
Api Request JSON file from New York Times
Workshop Sketches
Identify a facet of your life that expresses who you are: the places you have lived [or] travelled, [or] your evolving taste in music, [or] schedule during a busy work week, [or] the elements in your apartment.
Gather together all the content to be included in your diagram. Study the relationship[s] among the elements. Will they be arranged chronologically? Geographically? Do elements overlap or conflict with each other?
Create [a simple p5 sketch with] a graphic language (points, [circles,] lines, boxes, curves, colors) and a spatial organization for your [d]ata. Allow form, color, and configuration to grow out of the hierarchy and nature of the content. Include a key or legend in your design.