IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v37y2018i3d10.1007_s11113-018-9464-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Demography in the Big Data Revolution: Changing the Culture to Forge New Frontiers

Author

Listed:
  • Stephanie A. Bohon

    (University of Tennessee)

Abstract

Despite the widespread and rapidly growing popularity of Big Data, researchers have yet to agree on what the concept entails, what tools are still needed to best interrogate these data, whether or not Big Data’s emergence represents a new academic field or simply a set of tools, and how much confidence we can place on results derived from Big Data. Despite these ambiguities, most would agree that Big Data and the methods for analyzing it represent a remarkable potential for advancing social science knowledge. In my Presidential address to the Southern Demographic Association, I argue that demographers have long collected and analyzed Big Data in a small way, by parsing out the points of information that we can manipulate with familiar models and restricting analyses to what typical computing systems can handle or restricted-access data disseminators will allow. In order to better interrogate the data we already have, we need to change the culture of demography to treat demographic microdata as Big. This includes shaping the definition of Big Data, changing how we conceptualize models, and re-evaluating how we silo confidential data.

Suggested Citation

  • Stephanie A. Bohon, 2018. "Demography in the Big Data Revolution: Changing the Culture to Forge New Frontiers," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(3), pages 323-341, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:37:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-018-9464-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-018-9464-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-018-9464-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-018-9464-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fernando Riosmena & Douglas S. Massey, 2012. "Pathways to El Norte: Origins, Destinations, and Characteristics of Mexican Migrants to the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 3-36, March.
    2. Steven Ruggles, 2014. "Big Microdata for Population Research," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 287-297, February.
    3. Krista Perreira & Kathleen Harris & Dohoon Lee, 2006. "Making it in America: High school completion by immigrant and native youth," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(3), pages 511-536, August.
    4. Bell, B.A. & Onwuegbuzie, A.J. & Ferron, J.M. & Jiao, Q.G. & Hibbard, S.T. & Kromrey, J.D., 2012. "Use of design effects and sample weights in complex health survey data: A review of published articles using data from 3 commonly used adolescent health surveys," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 102(7), pages 1399-1405.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peter A. Morrison & Brad Edmondson & Kristie Ferrantella & David Lockhart & Samantha Reis & Anna Tapp, 2020. "Estimating Nantucket’s Effective Population," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(3), pages 577-604, June.
    2. Corey S. Sparks & Kara Joyner, 2019. "Population Research Briefs in Population Research and Policy Review," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 38(2), pages 153-155, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cynthia Feliciano & Yader R. Lanuza, 2016. "The Immigrant Advantage in Adolescent Educational Expectations," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3), pages 758-792, September.
    2. Frank Anthony Rodriguez & Marika Dawkins, 2017. "Undocumented Latino Youth: Migration Experiences and the Challenges of Integrating into American Society," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 419-438, May.
    3. Conover Emily & Khamis Melanie & Pearlman Sarah, 2021. "Gender Imbalances and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Large-Scale Mexican Migration," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, January.
    4. Stephanie Potochnick, 2014. "The Academic Adaptation of Children of Immigrants in New and Established Settlement States: The Role of Family, Schools, and Neighborhoods," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 33(3), pages 335-364, June.
    5. Samuel H. Fishman & S. Philip Morgan & Robert A. Hummer, 2018. "Smoking and Variation in the Hispanic Paradox: A Comparison of Low Birthweight Across 33 US States," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(5), pages 795-824, October.
    6. Guillermo Paredes-Orozco, 2019. "The limits to cumulative causation revisited: Urban-origin Mexico‒US migration in an era of increased immigration restrictions," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(28), pages 815-846.
    7. Claire E. Altman & Jennifer Van Hook & Jonathan Gonzalez, 2017. "Becoming Overweight without Gaining a Pound: Weight Evaluations and the Social Integration of Mexicans in the United States," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 3-36, March.
    8. Diette, Timothy M. & Uwaifo Oyelere, Ruth, 2012. "Do Significant Immigrant Inflows Create Negative Education Impacts? Lessons from the North Carolina Public School System," IZA Discussion Papers 6561, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Gindling, T. H. & Poggio, Sara Z., 2010. "The Effect of Family Separation and Reunification on the Educational Success of Immigrant Children in the United States," IZA Discussion Papers 4887, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Claudia Masferrer & Bryan Roberts, 2012. "Going Back Home? Changing Demography and Geography of Mexican Return Migration," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 31(4), pages 465-496, August.
    11. Rachel Sparkman & Kathryn Harker Tillman, 2024. "Household Income by Nativity Status and Race/Ethnicity Across Metropolitan and Regional Contexts," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(1), pages 1-31, February.
    12. Hao Dong & Cameron Campbell & Satomi Kurosu & Wenshan Yang & James Lee, 2015. "New Sources for Comparative Social Science: Historical Population Panel Data From East Asia," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 1061-1088, June.
    13. Nicole Filion & Andrew Fenelon & Michel Boudreaux, 2018. "Immigration, citizenship, and the mental health of adolescents," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-12, May.
    14. Ge, Jiaqi & Sutherland, Lee-Ann & Polhill, J. Gary & Matthews, Keith & Miller, Dave & Wardell-Johnson, Douglas, 2017. "Exploring factors affecting on-farm renewable energy adoption in Scotland using large-scale microdata," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 548-560.
    15. Andrew Fenelon, 2017. "Rethinking the Hispanic Paradox: The Mortality Experience of Mexican Immigrants in Traditional Gateways and New Destinations," International Migration Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 567-599, September.
    16. Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez & Alberto Palloni & Fernando Riosmena & Rebeca Wong, 2016. "SES Gradients Among Mexicans in the United States and in Mexico: A New Twist to the Hispanic Paradox?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1555-1581, October.
    17. Dustmann, Christian & Glitz, Albrecht, 2011. "Migration and Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 327-439, Elsevier.
    18. Tim H. Gindling & Sara Z. Poggio, 2008. "Family Separation and Reunification as a Factor in the Educational Success of Immigrant Children," UMBC Economics Department Working Papers 09-104, UMBC Department of Economics.
    19. Kevin Thomas, 2012. "Migration Processes, Familial Characteristics, and Schooling Dropout Among Black Youths," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(2), pages 477-498, May.
    20. Isabelle Chort & Maëlys Rupelle, 2016. "Determinants of Mexico-U.S. Outward and Return Migration Flows: A State-Level Panel Data Analysis," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(5), pages 1453-1476, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:37:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11113-018-9464-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.