Paleonet: GSA 2015: Digital Dirt

[Luke Mander]

Dear All,

With the abstract deadline for GSA in Baltimore this November fast
approaching, we wanted to encourage you to submit an abstract for the
session we are organizing on Digital Dirt (see the description below).  The
deadline for abstract submission is Aug. 11, and abstracts can be submitted
at:

http://community.geosociety.org/gsa2015/science-careers/sessions

We hope to see you in Baltimore,

Walton Green (wagreen at bricol.net)
Luke Mander (luke.mander at gmail.com)
Ben Kotrc (kotrc at mit.edu)

*       *       *

Digital Dirt: evaluating and minimizing discrepancies that accrue between
digital data and the natural world they represent

Particularly with the advent of big data sets, virtually every contemporary
publication in the earth sciences relies on quantitative data stored on a
digital computer at some point in the process of data collection and
publication. We all operate on the assumption that this data reflects the
state of the natural world more or less accurately. We write articles about
such data and we build theories about the nature of the world based on the
idea that there is a close correspondence between a physical object (such
as a rock sample or fossil specimen) and the digital descriptive data
associated with it. At the same time, anyone with experience collecting
data from the physical world is well aware of the sources of
error---quantifiable and unquantifiable---that separate a specimen from the
data representing it. This 'digital dirt' is often explicitly or tacitly
swept under the carpet to keep it from muddying our hypotheses. This
explicit data laundering is often a necessary part of the analytical
process, but it is vital to keep in mind the lurking issues of data
corruption and systematic bias. Even more useful than warnings about these
dangers is conversation about the best generalizable practices for
minimizing such issues. In this session we will consider the methodology of
digital data capture carefully via case studies from across the earth
sciences, using the similarities of data capture technology,
quantification, and data entry to unify otherwise unconnected topics. We
aim to synthesize contributions from a wide variety of areas in which data
volume, accuracy, precision, repeatability, or fidelity have become or
could become issues affecting our ability to formulate clear theories about
the natural world.


-- 
Dr Luke Mander
Lecturer in Earth Sciences
Department of Environment, Earth and Ecosystems
The Open University
Tel: +44 (0) 1908 332362
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