Bates, J. orcid.org/0000-0001-7266-8470 and Goodale, P. orcid.org/0000-0002-4352-5486 (2016) Data Journeys: capturing the socio-material constitution of data objects and flows. Big Data & Society, 3 (2). ISSN 2053-9517
Abstract
In this paper, we discuss the development and piloting of a new methodology for illuminating the socio-material constitution of data objects and flows as data move between different sites of practice. The data journeys approach contributes to the development of critical, qualitative methodologies that can address the geographic and temporal scale of emerging knowledge infrastructures, and capture the ‘life of data’ from their initial generation through to re-use in different contexts. We discuss the theoretical development of the data journeys methodology and the application of the approach on a project examining meteorological data on their journey from initial production through to being reused in climate science and financial markets. We then discuss three key conceptual findings from this project about: (1) the socio-material constitution of digital data objects, (2) ‘friction’ in the movement of data through space and time and (3) the mutability of digital data as a material property that contributes to driving the movement of data between different sites of practice.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2016 This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
Keywords: | Critical data studies; data practices; data cultures; data materiality; Big Data; data flow |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH COUNCIL (AHRC) AH/L009978/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 27 Jul 2016 08:48 |
Last Modified: | 18 Jul 2017 10:58 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2053951716654502 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publishing |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/2053951716654502 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:102945 |