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 at Utrecht University's research area Governing the Digital Society. He is co-founder and project leader of the Utrecht Data School. He is author of the book Bastard Culture! How User Participation Transforms Cultural Production (Amsterdam University Press 2011). Together with Karin van Es, he edited the volume The Datafied Society. Studying Culture through Data (Amsterdam University Press 2017).
Karin van Es is Associate Professor of Media and Culture Studies and project lead Humanities at Data School at Utrecht University. Her research focuses on the impact of datafication and algorithmization on culture and society, with a focus on the media industry.
