Abstract

As the generation and use of big data becomes more prevalent in youth work, young people grow up in a world that “knows” more about their lives than ever before. Beyond school attendance and grades, these systems know about out-of-school program participation, social service resources, therapeutic interventions, and more. Though data historically was used to understand and improve program achievements, communicate with funders, and track participants, it is increasingly used to suggest and even perform interventions in young peoples’ lives. Young people are rarely asked how they feel about these systems. This study, presented as a counter-narrative from their perspective, differentiates the big data collected and analyzed about them from the “big data” - or stuff that they feel really matters about who they are and the challenges they face. It concludes by offering four questions to help youth-serving organizations consider the ways they generate and use data, in light of the many issues young people raise about new big data trends.

摘要

随着大数据的产生和使用在青年工作中变得越来越普遍，年轻人在一个比以往任何时候都更“了解”自己生活的世界中成长。除了学校出勤率和成绩之外，这些系统还了解校外计划参与、社会服务资源、治疗干预等。尽管数据历来被用于了解和改进项目成果、与资助者沟通和跟踪参与者，但它越来越多地用于建议甚至对年轻人的生活进行干预。年轻人很少被问到他们对这些系统的看法。这项研究从他们的角度作为反叙述，将收集和分析的关于他们的大数据与“大数据”区分开来——或者他们认为对他们是谁以及他们面临的挑战真正重要的东西。