Emma Uprichard: most big data is social data – the analytics need serious interrogation

In the final interview in our Philosophy of Data Science series, Emma Uprichard, in conversation with Mark Carrigan, emphasises that big data has serious repercussions to the kinds of social futures we are shaping and those that are supporting big data developments need to be held accountable. This means we should also take stock of the methodological harm present in many big data practices. It doesn’t matter how much or how good our data is if the approach to modelling social systems is backwards. This interview is the last installment of our series on the Philosophy of Data Science. Previous interviews: Rob Kitchin, Evelyn Ruppert, Deborah Lupton, Susan Halford, Noortje Marres, and Sabina Leonelli.