A Position Statement on Population Data Science:
Information is increasingly digital, creating opportunities to respond to pressing issues about human populations in near real time using linked datasets that are large, complex, and diverse. The potential social and individual benefits that can come from data-intensive science are large, but raise...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Swansea University
2018-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Population Data Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://ijpds.org/article/view/415 |
| _version_ | 1797424371706363904 |
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| author | Kim McGrail Kerina Jones Ashley Akbari Tell Bennett Andrew Boyd Fabrizio Carinci Xinjie Cui Spiros Denaxas Nadine Dougall David Ford Russell S Kirby Hye-Chung Kum Rachael Moorin Ros Moran Christine O'Keefe David Preen Hude Quan Claudia Sanmartin Michael Schull Mark Smith Christine Williams Tyler Williamson Grant Wyper Milton Kotelchuck |
| author_facet | Kim McGrail Kerina Jones Ashley Akbari Tell Bennett Andrew Boyd Fabrizio Carinci Xinjie Cui Spiros Denaxas Nadine Dougall David Ford Russell S Kirby Hye-Chung Kum Rachael Moorin Ros Moran Christine O'Keefe David Preen Hude Quan Claudia Sanmartin Michael Schull Mark Smith Christine Williams Tyler Williamson Grant Wyper Milton Kotelchuck |
| author_sort | Kim McGrail |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Information is increasingly digital, creating opportunities to respond to pressing issues about human populations in near real time using linked datasets that are large, complex, and diverse. The potential social and individual benefits that can come from data-intensive science are large, but raise challenges of balancing individual privacy and the public good, building appropriate socio-technical systems to support data-intensive science, and determining whether defining a new field of inquiry might help move those collective interests and activities forward. A combination of expert engagement, literature review, and iterative conversations led to our conclusion that defining the field of Population Data Science (challenge 3) will help address the other two challenges as well. We define Population Data Science succinctly as the science of data about people and note that it is related to but distinct from the fields of data science and informatics. A broader definition names four characteristics of: data use for positive impact on citizens and society; bringing together and analyzing data from multiple sources; finding population-level insights; and developing safe, privacy-sensitive and ethical infrastructure to support research. One implication of these characteristics is that few people possess all of the requisite knowledge and skills of Population Data Science, so this is by nature a multi-disciplinary field. Other implications include the need to advance various aspects of science, such as data linkage technology, various forms of analytics, and methods of public engagement. These implications are the beginnings of a research agenda for Population Data Science, which if approached as a collective field, can catalyze significant advances in our understanding of trends in society, health, and human behavior. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:00:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-169325a762d040e1a16bcaff7aefe98b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2399-4908 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:00:16Z |
| publishDate | 2018-02-01 |
| publisher | Swansea University |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Population Data Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-169325a762d040e1a16bcaff7aefe98b2023-12-03T00:43:51ZengSwansea UniversityInternational Journal of Population Data Science2399-49082018-02-013110.23889/ijpds.v3i1.415415A Position Statement on Population Data Science:Kim McGrail0Kerina JonesAshley AkbariTell BennettAndrew BoydFabrizio CarinciXinjie CuiSpiros DenaxasNadine DougallDavid FordRussell S KirbyHye-Chung KumRachael MoorinRos MoranChristine O'KeefeDavid PreenHude QuanClaudia SanmartinMichael SchullMark SmithChristine WilliamsTyler WilliamsonGrant WyperMilton KotelchuckThe University of British ColumbiaInformation is increasingly digital, creating opportunities to respond to pressing issues about human populations in near real time using linked datasets that are large, complex, and diverse. The potential social and individual benefits that can come from data-intensive science are large, but raise challenges of balancing individual privacy and the public good, building appropriate socio-technical systems to support data-intensive science, and determining whether defining a new field of inquiry might help move those collective interests and activities forward. A combination of expert engagement, literature review, and iterative conversations led to our conclusion that defining the field of Population Data Science (challenge 3) will help address the other two challenges as well. We define Population Data Science succinctly as the science of data about people and note that it is related to but distinct from the fields of data science and informatics. A broader definition names four characteristics of: data use for positive impact on citizens and society; bringing together and analyzing data from multiple sources; finding population-level insights; and developing safe, privacy-sensitive and ethical infrastructure to support research. One implication of these characteristics is that few people possess all of the requisite knowledge and skills of Population Data Science, so this is by nature a multi-disciplinary field. Other implications include the need to advance various aspects of science, such as data linkage technology, various forms of analytics, and methods of public engagement. These implications are the beginnings of a research agenda for Population Data Science, which if approached as a collective field, can catalyze significant advances in our understanding of trends in society, health, and human behavior.https://ijpds.org/article/view/415data science; informatics; data linkage; public engagement; |
| spellingShingle | Kim McGrail Kerina Jones Ashley Akbari Tell Bennett Andrew Boyd Fabrizio Carinci Xinjie Cui Spiros Denaxas Nadine Dougall David Ford Russell S Kirby Hye-Chung Kum Rachael Moorin Ros Moran Christine O'Keefe David Preen Hude Quan Claudia Sanmartin Michael Schull Mark Smith Christine Williams Tyler Williamson Grant Wyper Milton Kotelchuck A Position Statement on Population Data Science: International Journal of Population Data Science data science; informatics; data linkage; public engagement; |
| title | A Position Statement on Population Data Science: |
| title_full | A Position Statement on Population Data Science: |
| title_fullStr | A Position Statement on Population Data Science: |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Position Statement on Population Data Science: |
| title_short | A Position Statement on Population Data Science: |
| title_sort | position statement on population data science |
| topic | data science; informatics; data linkage; public engagement; |
| url | https://ijpds.org/article/view/415 |
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