Big Data vs. Big Discussion… is it one or the other?

When reviewing Williamson’s blog about Big Data (2026), the question of is data being used in place of discussion really piques my interest. In a world where algorithms are used increasingly both by private and public users, and data is collected constantly, is the extrapolated information sufficient to replace the users or consumers voice regarding the product?

Looking at this question from the role of student, which is how Williamson frames the question, it feels much more controversial (which perhaps says more about my biases then anything else). In 1943 Maslow noted that the ‘freedom to express oneself’ (p. 384) is necessary within his framework of basic human needs; being reduced to data alone seems to run counter this need as to express myself I need a platform beyond the gathering of facts and figures. Being reduced to what can be found on paper as the preferred method of evaluating or compiling knowledge about a student’s progress or learning habits may also potentially open risk of assuming understanding and mastery of a topic, when in fact the mastery may be in successful ChatGPT usage or other supplementary tools. Another issue to keep in mind is that big data often can show correlation, but at times this is confused with causation (Zhou et al, 2014, p. 3). If decisions are made regarding a student’s needs based solely on data gathered as the cause of previous decision or actions taken, it may have the opposite affect of create barriers or problems if the reason was instead a one-time correlation due to outside factors, or perhaps the correlation is legitimate but assuming it to be causation leads to faulty conclusions.

From a corporate role, big data vs. big discussion seems more palatable. When organizations need to make large, often costly changes to their business they are keener to look at the bottom line of quantitative information then to ask employees for qualitative feedback. Costly and time sensitive decisions made by corporations likely need to be explainable to stakeholders and stockholders – this is easier to do with facts and figures. The viewpoint is also typically that of a whole (corporation) vs. the individual (employee). Khaldoon et al (2017, p. 862) identified that using Big Data may “reduce the timing of corporate reporting” and “allow for a more accurate level of information”, both very attractive attributes for organizations. That said, Khaldoon et al (2017, p. 850) also pointed out four paradoxes they uncovered, “namely empowerment vs enslavement, fulfilling vs creating needs, reliability vs timeliness and simplicity vs complexity” so it’s not as cut and dried as it may seem on original inspection.

I still have quite a bit of research to do before I decide on what the possible answer is to the question of data replacing discourse or discussion, it was a very interesting rabbit hole to explore and one I will likely find myself travelling along again soon!

 

References:

Al-Htaybat, K., & von Alberti-Alhtaybat, L. (2017). Big Data and corporate reporting: impacts and paradoxes. Accounting, auditing & accountability journal30(4), 850-873. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6920114

Maslow, A. H. (1958). A Dynamic Theory of Human Motivation. https://www.excelcentre.net/TheoryHumanMotivation.pdf

Williamson, B. (2016, June 2). Critical questions for big data in Education. code acts in education. https://codeactsineducation.wordpress.com/2016/06/02/critical-questions-for-big-data-in-education/

Zhou, Z. H., Chawla, N. V., Jin, Y., & Williams, G. J. (2014). Big data opportunities and challenges: Discussions from data analytics perspectives [discussion forum]. IEEE Computational intelligence magazine9(4), 62-74. Big Data https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/6920114and Challenges: Discussions from Data Analytics Perspectives [Discussion Forum] | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

By: Jessica A.

30 thoughts on “Big Data vs. Big Discussion… is it one or the other?

  1. I really like the questions you are asking — which are really questions about fiduciary responsibility and care — about the different applications between corporate and educational contexts. The power dynamics at play are part of this, but also what we expect of our data at school vs. work is also interesting. You’ve got my brain turning!

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