What is Data?

Chattoraj, Ananya

What is Data?

dc.contributor.advisor	Waters, C. Kenneth
dc.contributor.author	Chattoraj, Ananya
dc.contributor.committeemember	Ereshefsky, Marc
dc.contributor.committeemember	Zach, Richard
dc.contributor.committeemember	Keyhani, Mohammad
dc.contributor.committeemember	Griesemer, James
dc.date	2023-06
dc.date.accessioned	2023-04-17T20:16:32Z
dc.date.available	2023-04-17T20:16:32Z
dc.date.issued	2023-04-14
dc.description.abstract	Philosophers of science researching data-intensive scientific practices have largely converged on the idea that data are relational artifacts, where data are defined through their relations to scientific practices. I use the relationality of data as a starting point to construct a schema that highlights three relata of data. My aim is to foreground relata that I believe have largely been pushed to the background in the current literature. My schema is: Communities use technologies to create data for a purpose. Beginning with a survey of philosophical literature, I show the development of data as a relational artifact. I first present the accounts of Patrick Suppes and of James Bogen and James Woodward. The relevant works of these philosophers focus on how data relates to theories, expanding it to proposing that data provides evidence toward claims for phenomena, which in turn provide evidence for claims of theories. Then, I present the relevant works of Ian Hacking and Sabina Leonelli. Here, data are considered in relation to laboratory practices and the content and form of data are investigated in more detail. I move on to constructing my schema of data. I argue that philosophers ought to foreground communities, technologies, and purposes when analyzing data practices. I do so by analyzing a historical case of thermometry before inspecting communities, technologies, and purposes in greater detail. Communities influence data practices through their complex interactions, done between individuals, groups, and groups of groups. Choices in technology affect the pace of data practices since tools directly influence the content of data that are created. Furthermore, technological choices are determined through community interactions, and often influenced by practical limitations of financial and resource limitations of a lab. Lastly, much of philosophical literature has focused on data's use as evidence, but I argue that there are multiple uses for data. In particular, data may be used as representation without abandoning relationality, and that data may be used to train algorithms. Evidence, representation, and training are distinctly important uses of data. My schema may be used a starting point for further philosophical investigation into data practices.
dc.identifier.citation	Chattoraj, A. (2023). What is data? (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/116077
dc.identifier.uri	https://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/dspace/40923
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Graduate Studies
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	data
dc.subject	technology
dc.subject	philosophy of science
dc.subject.classification	Philosophy
dc.title	What is Data?
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Philosophy
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.