The Datafied Society. Studying Culture through Data

Dr Karin van Es and Dr Mirko Tobias Schäfer (Media and Performance) edited the book The Datafied Society. Studying Culture through Data. The book offers a collection of scholarly investigations into computer-aided methods and practices for the humanities.

The large corpus of empirical data and available tools for data collection and analysis are changing the ways knowledge is produced. For the humanities, this transformation requires not only that we must critically inquire into how technology affects our understanding of knowledge and how it alters our epistemic processes, but that we also need to employ the new data resources and technologies in new ways of scholarly investigation.

Opportunities and pitfalls of data research

The Datafied Society: Studying Culture Through Data thinks through the opportunities and pitfalls of doing research with data provides within the humanities (and media studies in particular). It covers different research methods, considers how researchers can engage with the datafied society, and reflects on moral and discrimination issues that need to be tackled when embarking on research. Through a series of four short interviews with leading scholars it furthermore pinpoints the key ideas in big data research.

Stimulate and engage

This book is a collection of scholarly investigations into computer-aided methods and practices. While several contributors offer essays representing their skills, methods and exemplary research projects, others reflect on the sensibilities and competencies that scholars need to develop in order to study contemporary culture through data. Together they make a volume that will stimulate and engage humanities scholars via their perspectives on debates and reflections on the theory and practices of digital data research.

The publication of this book is made possible by a grant from Utrecht Data School and Open Access Fund at Utrecht University. It is accessible as a free download.