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A Position Statement on Population Data Science: The science of data about people
- Source :
- International Journal of Population Data Science, 3(1):A16. Swansea University, International Journal of Population Data Science
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Swansea University, 2018.
-
Abstract
- 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.
- Subjects :
- Position statement
Information Systems and Management
050801 communication & media studies
Health Informatics
Field (computer science)
03 medical and health sciences
0508 media and communications
0302 clinical medicine
304 Factors affecting social behavior
HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
030212 general & internal medicine
Sociology
Public engagement
Centre for Mental Health Practice, Policy and Law Research
Data Linkage
Population Data Science
Demography
Public health
business.industry
05 social sciences
Public good
Data linkage
Data science
Digital information, population data
Analytics
Health
Informatics
Population data
eHealth
business
Information Systems
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 23994908
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- International Journal of Population Data Science, 3(1):A16. Swansea University, International Journal of Population Data Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....08080a3c15b1afbdef2ec327e027629a