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SUMMARY:On the movements and value of research data - Sabina Leonelli (Uni
 versity of Exeter)
DTSTART:20151015T153000Z
DTEND:20151015T170000Z
UID:TALK61102@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Marta Halina
DESCRIPTION:This paper reports on an ongoing effort to study the movement 
 of scientific data from their production site to many other sites of use w
 ithin or beyond the same discipline\, from both an empirical and a philoso
 phical standpoint. Empirically\, the study is grounded on the reconstructi
 on of specific data journeys within four research areas: plant biology\, m
 odel organism biology\, biomedicine and oceanography. Philosophically\, th
 e study aims to analyse the conditions under which data travel across what
  I call\, following John Dewey\, 'research situations'\, and what implicat
 ions this has for the epistemology of science. I focus in particular on on
 line databases set up to facilitate data dissemination and their multiple 
 re-interpretations as evidence for a variety of claims across different se
 ttings\; and on the wealth and diversity of expertise\, resources and conc
 eptual scaffolding used by database curators and users to expand the evide
 ntial value of data thus propagated. Through the reconstruction and carefu
 l analysis of data journeys\, a great deal can be learnt about the multipl
 e roles and valences of data\, ranging from their essential function as ev
 idence to their importance as currency in trading\, tokens of identity and
  means to foster the legitimacy\, accountability and value of research wit
 hin a variety of contexts. These insights inform a philosophical analysis 
 of knowledge production that is attentive to the processual\, dynamic natu
 re of research\, as well as its embedding in social\, political and econom
 ic settings that have a strong bearing on what comes to be viewed as scien
 tific data\, by whom\, and why.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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