University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Soc Stud Sci. 2024 Jun;54(3):429-450. doi: 10.1177/03063127231212506. Epub 2023 Nov 25.
Data are versatile objects that can travel across contexts. While data's travels have been widely discussed, little attention has been paid to the sites from where and to which data flow. Drawing upon ethnographic fieldwork in two connected data-intensive laboratories and the concept of domestication, we explore what it takes to bring data 'home' into the laboratory. As data come and dwell in the home, they are made to follow rituals, and as a result, data are reshaped and form ties with the laboratory and its practitioners. We identify four main ways of domesticating data. First, through about the data's origins, data practitioners draw the boundaries of their laboratory. Second, through , staff transform samples into digital data that can travel well while ruling what data can be let into the home. Third, through , data practitioners become familiar with their data and at the same time imprint the data, thus making them belong to their home. Finally, through , staff turn data into a resource for knowledge production. Through the lens of domestication, we see the data economy as a collection of homes connected by flows, and it is because data are tamed and attached to homes that they become valuable knowledge tools. Such domestication practices also have broad implications for staff, who in the process of 'homing' data, come to belong to the laboratory. To conclude, we reflect on what these domestication processes-which silence unusual behaviours in the data-mean for the knowledge produced in data-intensive research.
数据是多功能的，可以在不同的环境中传递。尽管数据的传递已经被广泛讨论，但很少有人关注数据的来源和流向。本研究通过在两个相互关联的数据密集型实验室进行民族志实地调查，并借鉴驯化的概念，探讨了将数据“引入”实验室的条件。当数据进入并驻留在实验室时，它们需要遵循一定的仪式，从而被重塑，并与实验室及其从业人员建立联系。我们确定了驯化数据的四种主要方式。首先，通过了解数据的来源，数据从业人员划定了实验室的边界。其次，通过筛选，工作人员将样本转化为可以很好地传输的数据，同时规定了哪些数据可以进入实验室。第三，通过熟悉数据，数据从业人员了解了数据，同时也给数据打上了实验室的烙印，使数据成为实验室的一部分。最后，通过重新包装，工作人员将数据转化为知识生产的资源。通过驯化的视角，我们可以将数据经济视为一个由流动连接的家园集合，只有当数据被驯服并依附于家园时，它们才成为有价值的知识工具。这些驯化实践也对工作人员产生了广泛的影响，因为在“引入”数据的过程中，他们也逐渐成为实验室的一部分。最后，我们反思了这些驯化过程——这些过程使数据中的异常行为沉默——对数据密集型研究中产生的知识意味着什么。
