The Nature of Data

This chapter examines the nature of data from an etymological, philosophical, and technical point of view. Data is derived from the Latin dare, meaning 'to give'. In general use, however, data refers to those elements that are taken. Technically, what is understood to be data are actually capta (derived from the Latin capere, meaning 'to take'); those units of data that have been selected and harvested from the sum of all potential data. It is no coincidence that the use of the word 'data' emerged during the Renaissance. At this time, there was a flourishing of scientific innovation with respect to philosophy, equipment, and analysis that led to new discoveries and theories across the academy and new inventions in business, and transformed the world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the use of the term 'data' extended from mathematics and natural philosophy to economics and administration. In the 20th century, data came to mean any information stored and used in the context of computing, and its uses multiplied beyond science and administration. The chapter then looks at four dominant scientific paradigms centred on epistemological approaches: experimental science, theoretical science, computational science, and exploratory science. What this discussion reveals is that not only is data manufactured, but the approach to and process of manufacturing has changed over time.