Day X: Data Distortion
SDS 189: Data and Social Justice
Lindsay Poirier
Statistical & Data Sciences, Smith College
Fall 2023
Distortive Data Practices
- Social actions that result in the under/over/misrepresentation of data
- Not limited to just falsification or omission
- Often not just the result of “bad actors” but social systems that incentivize bad actions
What is metric fixation? How is metric fixation an example of such an incentive?
What examples of metric fixation can you identify?
Examples of Distortive Practices
- Lying or misreporting data
- Taking advantage of ambiguities in standards or laws to “creatively” measure or classify
- Advocating for changes to standards or laws to reconfigure the scope and methods of data collection
Stakeholder Analysis: Part 1
- What interest does the stakeholder have in the dataset?
- What influence does the stakeholder have over the collection, organization, or publication of the dataset?
| Low Influence | High Influence | |
|---|---|---|
| High Interest | ||
| Low Interest |
Stakeholder Analysis: Part 2
Select a high interest/high influence stakeholder
What social forces enable/encourage this stakeholder to report data accurately?
What social forces enable/incentivize this stakeholder to report data inaccurately?