The Datafied Society
Studying Culture through Data
Mirko Tobias Schäfer
Karin van Es
9789462987173
268 pages
Amsterdam University Press
Overview
As machine-readable data comes to play an increasingly important role in everyday life, researchers find themselves with rich resources for studying society. The novel methods and tools needed to work with such data require not only new knowledge and skills, but also a new way of thinking about best research practices. This book critically reflects on the role and usefulness of big data, challenging overly optimistic expectations about what such information can reveal, introducing practices and methods for its analysis and visualisation, and raising important political and ethical questions regarding its collection, handling, and presentation.
Author Bio
Mirko Tobias Schäfer is Associate Professor of AI, Data & Society at Utrecht University’s research area 'Governing the Digital Society' and the Department for Information and Computing Sciences. Mirko is co-founder and Sciences lead of the Data School. He studies the datafication of public management and engages in the development of responsible and accountable AI and data practices.
Karin van Es is Associate Professor, Media and Culture Studies, and project lead Humanities at Data School at Utrecht University. Her research contributes to the fields of software studies and critical data studies. She currently studies streaming video platforms, examining media policies and exploring innovative methods to analyze these services.
