This document discusses representation in data-driven societies. It begins by defining representation as using signs, terms, images, etc. to stand in for something else. It then discusses remote sensing and how tools like GPS can acquire information without direct contact. Politics of representation are mentioned, noting tensions between transparency and security. The document also discusses visualizing data and how there is no such thing as raw data, as data visualization is already an interpretation. It provides examples of visualizing social networks, crime, and property values from different sources.

1. Data Driven Societies:
Representation
Professors Gaze & Gieseking

3. What is representation?
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Using signs, terms, characters, images, etc., that
stand in for or take the place of something else

5. Kurgan: The Necessity of
Interpretation
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Remote sensing acquisition of information
about an object or
phenomenon without
making actual physical
contact with the object or
experience
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Global positioning systems
(GPS) - space-based
satellite navigation

6. Politics of Representation
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Transparency, freedom of inquiry, and openness sit
alongside militarization, security, and official qualities
of aerial photography
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“There is no absolute scale, just as there is no natural
or logical starting or stopping point for the
zoom.” (Kurgan 20)
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“The View from Nowhere” - Svetlana Alpers
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“God’s eye view” - Donna Haraway

7. Kurgan: Million Dollar Blocks
http://www.propertyshark.com/

8. Kurgan: Million Dollar Blocks
GoogleMaps

9. Kurgan: Million Dollar Blocks
npr.org

10. Kurgan: Million Dollar Blocks
nytimes.com

11. Fighting Crime with Social
Networks
Radil, Steven M., Colin Flint, and George E. Tita. 2010. “Spatializing Social Networks:
Using Social Network Analysis to Investigate Geographies of Gang Rivalry, Territoriality,
and Violence in Los Angeles.” Annals of the Association of American Geographers 100
(2): 307–26.

12. Visualize This
Visualization is what happens when you make the
jump from raw data to bar graphs, line charts, and
dot plots.
—Nathan Yau, Data Points (2013, 92)

13. Visualize This
To put it another way, there is no such thing as raw
data. Data are always translated such that they might
be presented. The images, lists, graphs, and maps
that represent those data are all interpretations. …
The phrase ‘data visualization,’ in that sense, is a bit
redundant: data are already a visualization.
—Laura Kurgan, Close Up at a Distance (2013, 35)

14. Next Class: Feb. 5
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Readings: Cohen only, do not read the Illinsky
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Quiz: email you the list of terms this afternoon
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Blog: next post due now on 2-10, email you the
detailed instructions this afternoon
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Course topic: on Wednesday, we shift from a focus
on Data to Privacy