Postgraduate Course: Data and Society (STIS11007)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | Much of our daily lives are intertwined with data. But how much do we really think about what data is or how it affects us? Is data really just a number? Are we in control of it or is it controlling us? How do different data practices (e.g. counting, modelling) affect how we understand and interact with the world around us? How have different cultures and societies, across time and space, made use of it? What is the future of data?
To explore such questions, this course will examine the social issues, technical environments, ethical dilemmas, and cultural constructions of data. |
| Course description |
This course provides students with a broad understanding of the social and material construction of data and how data has shaped contemporary societies. More than a simple number or word, data has become a set of technologies for seeing and knowing society, supporting and controlling populations, and legitimising and exerting power. Students will learn about the key theories and methods in science and technology studies (STS) relating to data and datafication. By the end of the course, students will be able to critically apply this knowledge to their own contexts and research interests. The course is designed to be taken by students from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and contexts, but students should understand it will use sociological, critical and humanities approaches, rather than technical. The course will be delivered through lectures and tutorials.
Topics explored on this course will include:
History of the quantification of society (How have we used numbers and data to understand others? How has the use of quantitative information by governments and other actors changed through time?)
Philosophy of data (What is data? How does it relate to theory and methods?)
Processes of datafication (How are our lives turned into data? What is big data and how does it have value?)
Infrastructures and geographies of data (How is data stored and geographically distributed? What infrastructures are needed to support the production and use of data?)
Data ethics, governance, and regulation (What ethical and governance challenges are there to the use of data by society? How have these debates changed through time?)
Futures of the data society
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 75 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
196 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
30%: Annotated bibliography, 1,500 words
70%: Long essay, 3,000 words |
| Feedback |
Feedback on all assessed work shall normally be returned within three weeks of submission. Where this is not possible, students shall be given clear expectations regarding the timing and methods of feedback. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the social, political and historical construction of data
- Critically evaluate the role data plays in shaping understandings of both self (including your own interactions with data) and society
- Identify and evaluate the key methods, approaches and theories from science and technology studies, as they apply to quantification and data
- Find, interpret and appraise a wide range of resources (theories, empirical data, methods, techniques, sources of information, etc) for pursuing these issues in their future work
- Be able to apply and communicate these understandings and skills independently through formal essay writing.
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Reading List
Porter, T. (1995) Trust in Numbers: The Pursuit of Objectivity in Science and Public Life. Princeton University Press: Princeton.
Ruppert, E., Scheel, S. (eds.) (2021) Data Practices: Making Up a European People. Goldsmiths Press: London.
Milan, S., Treré, E. (2019) Big Data from the South(s): Beyond Data Universalism, Television & New Media, 20:4, 319-335
Benjamin, R. (2019) Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Polity Press: Cambridge.
Whatmore, S., Thorne, L. (2000) Elephants on the move: Spatial formations of wildlife exchange, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 18, 185-203. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Develop a critical understanding and appraisal of core disciplinary knowledge on science and technology studies and how they relate to the construction and use of data in contemporary society
Bring together knowledge from a range of disciplinary backgrounds and undertake critical evaluations of a wide range of theoretical and empirical sources, including numerical and graphical data
Exercise substantial autonomy over your own learning, successfully planning and organizing independently your own studies through independently-led assessments
Communicate effectively using oral and visual means to collaborate and critically reflect with others
Present complex arguments using written means, producing a clear, structured piece of written work |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Victoria Gorton
Tel:
Email: v.gorton@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mrs Casey Behringer
Tel: (0131 6)50 2456
Email: Casey.behringer@ed.ac.uk |
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