Library
Use our library to explore Data & Society's original empirical research and read our expert commentary. Sort by media type, or select one or more topic categories to begin browsing.
Publisher
Title
Date
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podcast
video
DatabitesAs an increasing number of industries digitize, the economy around data analysis – particularly predictive modeling – has exploded. The problem is, we don’t have any real way to understand, analyze, or predict the accuracy of t... Read moreJuly 2016 -
blog post
EthnographyMatters.netD&S researcher Madeleine Clare Elish asserts ethnography and anthropology's role in studying automation and intelligent systems. Cultural perceptions of the role of humans in automated and robotic systems need to be update... Read on EthnographyMatters.netJune 2016 -
op-ed
SlateD&S researcher Madeleine Clare Elish discusses the complexities of error in automated systems. Elish argues that the human role in automated systems has become 'the weak link, rather than the point of stability'. We need t... Read on SlateJune 2016 -
blog post
PointsWhat the journalists from SourceFed may have stumbled upon was not an instance in which search results were intentionally being manipulated in favor of a candidate, but how algorithms can reflect complex jurisdictional issues a... Read on PointsJune 2016 -
video
Data & SocietyWhen Karen discovered she had a life threatening heart condition, the last thing she expected was to have to worry about software. Now, with a heart device implanted in her body, she has come to understand not only how vulnerab... Read moreJune 2016 -
Longform
ProPublicaD&S fellow Surya Mattu investigated bias in risk assessments, algorithmically generated scores predicting the likelihood of a person committing a future crime. These scores are increasingly used in courtrooms across America... Read on ProPublicaMay 2016 -
op-ed
The New York TimesD&S Researcher Robyn Caplan considers whether Facebook is saving journalism or ruining it: The question of whether Facebook is saving or ruining journalism is not relevant here because, like it or not, Facebook is a media ... Read on The New York TimesMay 2016 -
Resource
Data & SocietyThis primer articulates emerging concerns and tensions coming to the fore as social media platforms overtake traditional media forms, becoming the main way that news and information of cultural, economic, social and political significance is being produced and disseminated. Read moreMay 2016 -
Resource
Data & SocietyIn this background primer, D&S Research Analyst Laura Reed and D&S Founder danah boyd situate the current debate around the role of technology in the public sphere within a historical context. Read moreMay 2016 -
blog post
Points"Could policies exist to guide what algorithms find relevant? Algorithms depend on data to make recommendations. Could certain cultural metadata be embedded to ensure Canadian content has other pathways of discovery beyond a pl... Read on PointsMay 2016