Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Think (Mayer-Schonberger 2013)

Viktor Mayer-Schonberger is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at the Oxford Internet Institute, Oxford University.  Kenneth Cukier is the co-author, and is the Data Editor of the Economist.

Big Data is a term coined by scientists working in the areas of astronomy and genomics.  It refers to the collection and analysis of large quantities of data that may be combined in different ways for different purposes.  One of the primary differentiating characteristic of Big Data Analysis is that it is not used to determine causality, but only correlations.  However, because Big Data uses a data pool that approaches the full corpus rather than a representative sample, it has great value for decision-making.

The authors note that statistical practices that require pristine data and stringent controls were developed because of the scarcity of data in the past.  These procedures were created to allow the investigators to draw conclusions based on small samples of data and then to extrapolate them to the total data set, or corpus.  Since Big Data uses almost the entire corpus in its analysis, it does not require the data to be cleansed and controlled.  This saves both time and money.

The authors provide examples of ways that Big Data has been used to improve health and safety as well as marketing and business practices.  They also examine the dangers that Big Data presents with respect to privacy and personal freedom.  They suggest strategies to protect against the misuse of Big Data.