The end of theory
the confrontation between data-driven research and hypothesis-driven resea rch
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18617/liinc.v15i1.4688Keywords:
Big Data, Scientific Method, Data-Driven Science, Hypothesis-Driven ScienceAbstract
Contemporary science and its methodological foundations have been impacted by the big data phenomenon that proclaims that in the age of data measured in petabytes, supercomputers and sophisticated algorithms the scientific method is obsolete and that the hypotheses and models are outdated. The strategies of the scientific big data rely on computational analysis strategies of massive amounts of data to reveal correlations, patterns and rules that will generate new knowledge, ranging from the exact sciences to the social sciences, humanity and culture, outlining an archetype of data-driven science. The present essay addresses the debates around data-driven science as opposed to hypothesis-oriented science and analyzes some of the ramifications of this epistemological confrontation. For this, the writings of some authors who are more closely involved in this question are taken as methodology.
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