What is Big Data? Dr Alasdair Rutherford University of Stirling

Big Data and Data Science What is “Big Data” anyway? Isn’t it all just hype?

How “big” is Big Data?

Volume Variety Velocity Veracity Value The three four five`V’s

Classification of Big Data Human-sourced information Traditional business systems Machine-generated data UNECE. (2013) Classification of types of big data. Accessed online at ation+of+Types+of+Big+Data ation+of+Types+of+Big+Data

Big Unstructured Data Machine-generated Satellite images – weather data, google earth; Scientific data – earthquake, atmosphere; Photographs and video – CCTV, traffic; Human-generated Text – essays, reports, doctors’ notes; Social media – activity, friendships, conversation; Website content – writing, video, images.

Big Data and Social Research Increasing access to administrative data: Health records Education records Income and pension records Organisational data Internal data on service-users

Big Data and Social Research Potential to link data for social research: Link administrative datasets together e.g. health and social care; Link administrative data to social survey data e.g. charity data and volunteering; Link service-user data to administrative data to measure outcomes

Significant challenges in preparing data for analysis – structure, coding, accuracy, missing data, interpretation Large databases – limits of storage and processing power Ethical issues – privacy, confidentiality and anonymity Analysis of Big Data

Does it have to be big? Making better use of increasingly available data Understanding the data generated by your organisation Combining internal organisation data with external administrative or survey data Understanding how insights from data can support your work

What is Big Data? Dr Alasdair Rutherford University of Stirling