Riddle Me DATA: Science, Anthropology & the Future of Knowledge, Part I - Mendenhall

Riddle Me DATA: Science, Anthropology & the Future of Knowledge, Part I

 

CHAIR: HANNA, Bridget (Northeastern U)

 

JONES, Rose (Children’s Health) The Era of Affordable Care: The Wild West, Gun-toting Frontier of Healthcare Research HOGLE, Linda (UW-Madison) Paradoxes of ‘Value-based’ Big Data in Healthcare LALIBERTÉ, Vincent (McGill U) Medical Research on the Homeless: The Use of Health Administrative Data MENDENHALL, Emily (Georgetown U) Big Data, Lived Experience, and Perpetuation of the DALY in Global Health DISCUSSANT: WELLER, Susan C. (UTMB)

 

HANNA, Bridget (Northeastern U) Riddle Me DATA: Science, Anthropology & the Future of Knowledge, Parts I-II. The increasing interdisciplinarity of Big Data science poses new riddles for anthropologists. Originally, disciplinary divisions were driven by the urge to: 1) protect unique epistemologies; 2) foster distinct methodologies, & 3) cultivate specialized knowledge. Today however, disciplinary silos are being eroded by the rise of the data sciences, with their omnivorous appetite for information and relatively agnostic view as to its’ philosophical underpinnings. What does this mean for ethnographic practice, for collaboration, and for justice? How do we ethically work with, within, and with-out Big Data? Stories across environmental, medical, cartographic, judicial and managerial worlds help frame these new conundrums.

 

Session took place in Santa Fe, NM at the 77th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology in March 2017.