The digital is transforming not only society but also social research, and this requires new engagement with old problems such as bias: digital data, tools and networks are not neutral but value-laden. Noortje Marres’s talk will explore how the emerging field of digital sociology is developing new, experimental ways of taking on this problem. Her talk will distinguish between different types of bias that arise in digital practices to develop a critical argument: the problem of biased sources continues to be privileged at the expense of other forms of bias – of networks, and environments – in our not-quite digital culture.
About the speaker
Noortje Marres is Associate Professor in the Centre for Interdisciplinary Methodologies (CIM) at the University of Warwick (UK). She studied sociology and philosophy of science and technology at the University of Amsterdam, and conducted her doctoral research at that same university and MinesTech in Paris. Her early work drew on actor-network theory and Pragmatism to develop the concept of issue publics, and she has played a leading role in developments in digital methods, in particular issue mapping. Her first book, Material Participation: Technology, the Environment and Everyday Publics (Palgrave) came out in paperback in 2015 and her second book, Digital Sociology, has just been published with Polity.
How to attend
The event is free to attend, but please register using eventbrite.