The Illusion of Knowledge: Have We Confused Big Data for Thick Data?
With huge investments in big data and the computing power
and manpower necessary to leverage it, companies are still
struggling to see the returns of these decision-assisting
technologies. Big data is alluring: all the knowledge and insight
collected, collated, and easily understood in one place. One
of the easiest traps to fall into when trying to predict trends is
undervaluing unquantifiable information.
Tricia Wang offers an alternative, ‘thick’ data, which compiles
human experiences and counts in human emotions as a factor
in collective knowledge. Academics in the humanities field of
study have extensive experience working with qualitative data,
coming in the form of stories, interviews, and experiences. In
this session, Tricia aims to highlight how these unquantifiable
stories are worth just as much as a mountain of quantifiable
data points.