Beer, David Gareth orcid.org/0000-0002-6926-4595 (2016) How should we do the history of big data? Big Data & Society.
Abstract
Taking its lead from Ian Hacking’s article ‘How should we do the history of statistics?’, this article reflects on how we might develop a sociologically informed history of big data. It argues that within the history of social statistics we have a relatively well developed history of the material phenomenon of big data. Yet this article argues that we now need to take the concept of ‘big data’ seriously, there is a pressing need to explore the type of work that is being done by that concept. The article suggests a programme for work that explores the emergence of the concept of big data so as to track the institutional, organisational, political and everyday adoption of this term. It argues that the term big data has the effect of making-up data and, as such, is powerful in framing our understanding of those data and the possibilities that they afford.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016, The publisher. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Sociology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2016 10:55 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2025 00:06 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716646135 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/2053951716646135 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:97690 |
Download
Filename: How_should_we_do_the_history_of_big_data.pdf
Description: How should we do the history of big data