A view from anthropology: Should anthropologists fear the data machines?
Researchers and students at anthropology have just published a joint paper in the journal Big Data & Society. The paper is online first, and will eventually become part of a special issue on "Machine Anthropology", edited by professor of anthropology and PI of the DISTRACT project Morten Axel Pedersen.
"A view from anthropology: Should anthropologists fear the data machines?"
By Kristoffer Albris, Eva Iris Otto, Sofie Læbo Astrupgaard, Emilie Munch Gregersen, Laura Skousgaard Jørgensen, Olivia Norman Jørgensen, Clara Rosa Sandbye and Signe Hellung Schønning:
Abstract
If you are an anthropologist wanting to use digital methods or programming as part of your research, where do you start? In this commentary, we discuss three ways in which anthropologists can use computational tools to enhance, support, and complement ethnographic methods. By presenting our reflections, we hope to contribute to the stirring conversations about the potential future role(s) of (social) data science vis-a-vis anthropology and ethnography, and to inspire other anthropologists to take up the use of digital methods, programming, and computational tools in their own research.
Link to the article, free access:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/20539517211043655