The Importance of Data Context

Discussion Norms

  • Zero tolerance for: racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism

  • Do not make generalizations – Use “I” statements

  • Respect one another

  • Intent and impact both matter

  • Non-judgmental

  • Embrace discomfort

Land Acknowledgement

Cal Poly sits on the land of the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini, Northern Chumash tribe. We acknowledge, respect, and thank the yak titʸu titʸu yak tiłhini on whose stolen land we are guests.

Indigenous people are not relics of the past. We who work and live here must bear witness to the ongoing effects of colonization.

Data feminism?

Data Neutrality

Data are not neutral or objective. They are the products of unequal social relations, and this context is essential for conducting accurate, ethical analysis.

Feminism as Action

Belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the women and men (and non-binary people) through organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.

Merriam Webster

Intersectional Feminism

Focuses beyond women and gender.

Focuses on the distribution of power.

Intersectionality is a concept out of Black feminism, conceptually derived by the Combahee River Collective and linguistically created by Kimberlee Crenshaw.

Data is Power

“Data is the new oil.”

The Economist, Intel CEO, Reliance Industrices CEO, UAE Minister of Artifical Intelligence, Google execs, etc.

“Data is the same old oppression.”

BIPOC, white women, Indigenous people, immigrant communities, LGBTQ+ individuals, + more

Discussion Questions

Which actors in the data ecosystem are responsible for providing context?

End users? Data publishers? Data intermediaries?

What steps can we take to ensure context is considered?

How can we more effectively present context through data visualization?

What are your thoughts on how we label graphs with context?

Elevating Emotion

“We focus on four conventions which imbue visualizations with a sense of objectivity, transparency and facticity. These include: (a) two-dimensional viewpoints, (b) clean layouts, (c) geometric shapes and lines, (d) the inclusion of data sources.”

Kennedy et al. (2016)

https://guns.periscopic.com/

http://www.antievictionmappingproject.net/narratives.html

Which power imbalances have led to silences in the dataset or data that is

missing altogether?

Library of Missing Data

The Library of Missing Datasets

Mimi Onuoha

Project Application

Data Context

In the “Data Context” section of your Final Poster, you are required to provide a description that directly addresses the:

  • social,
  • cultural,
  • historical,
  • institutional, and
  • material conditions under which the data were produced.

Example: Ames, Iowa Housing Data

  • What are the social conditions of these data?

  • What are the cultural conditions of these data?

  • What are the historical conditions of these data?

  • What are the institutional conditions of these data?

  • What are the material conditions of these data?