Dominik Balazka | Università degli Studi di Milano - State University of Milan (Italy) (original) (raw)

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Research paper thumbnail of How can big data shape the field of non-religion studies? And why does it matter

Patterns, 2021

The shift of attention from the decline of organized religion to the rise of post-Christian spiri... more The shift of attention from the decline of organized religion to the rise of post-Christian spiritualities, anti-religious positions, secularity, and religious indifference has coincided with the deconstruction of the binary distinction between ''religion'' and ''non-religion''-initiated by spirituality studies throughout the 1980s and recently resumed by the emerging field of non-religion studies. The current state of cross-national surveys makes it difficult to address the new theoretical concerns due to (1) lack of theoretically relevant variables, (2) lack of longitudinal data to track historical changes in non-religious positions, and (3) difficulties in accessing small and/or hardly reachable sub-populations of religious nones. We explore how user profiling, text analytics, automatic image classification, and various research designs based on the integration of survey methods and big data can address these issues as well as shape non-religion studies, promote its institutionalization, stimulate interdisciplinary cooperation, and improve the understanding of non-religion by redefining current methodological practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping Scholarly Affinities in the Academic Study of Non-Religion and Secularity

The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is a central organization for the emerging... more The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is a central organization for the emerging field of non-religion studies. As the Network grows, discovering new scholarly affinities becomes increasingly complicated. To better understand this community, an interactive tool was conceived to visualize and navigate over 250 scientific contributions (2008-2020) collected from NSRN's events, blog, book series, and journal. The distribution of scholars in the space is based on lexical distance, so spatial proximity expresses a similarity measure of authors' dictionaries. Isoclines represent an indicator of relevance based on word frequency. Unlike citation analysis, lexical proximity relies on shared verbal units rather than potentially misleading academic hierarchies. By shifting the attention from citations to discourse and word usage, lexical proximity uncovers new configurations of scholars. The work aims to present this innovative open access tool, along with its advantages for the scientific community and reflections on the limitations of NSRN's data management practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Big Data and the Little Big Bang: An Epistemological (R)evolution

Frontiers in Big Data, 2020

Starting from an analysis of frequently employed definitions of big data, it will be argued that,... more Starting from an analysis of frequently employed definitions of big data, it will be argued that, to overcome the intrinsic weaknesses of big data, it is more appropriate to define the object in relational terms. The excessive emphasis on volume and technological aspects of big data, derived from their current definitions, combined with neglected epistemological issues gave birth to an objectivistic rhetoric surrounding big data as implicitly neutral, omni-comprehensive, and theory-free. This rhetoric contradicts the empirical reality that embraces big data: (1) data collection is not neutral nor objective; (2) exhaustivity is a mathematical limit; and (3) interpretation and knowledge production remain both theoretically informed and subjective. Addressing these issues, big data will be interpreted as a methodological revolution carried over by evolutionary processes in technology and epistemology. By distinguishing between forms of nominal and actual access, we claim that big data promoted a new digital divide changing stakeholders, gatekeepers, and the basic rules of knowledge discovery by radically shaping the power dynamics involved in the processes of production and analysis of data.

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping Religious Nones in 112 Countries: An Overview of European Values Study and World Values Survey Data (1981-2020)

Religious non-affiliation is an increasingly discussed topic. Nones constitute a rapidly growing ... more Religious non-affiliation is an increasingly discussed topic. Nones constitute a rapidly growing population that occupies a central role in the secularization debate. The report “Mapping Religious Nones in 112 Countries” uses European Values Study and World Values Survey data collected between 1981 and 2020 to offer an overview of socio-demographic characteristics, geographical distribution, and religiosity of non-affiliated respondents. In four decades nones doubled at a global level reaching 25.9% – 21.7% in non-European countries – and triplicated in Europe with 30.2%. On average, non-affiliation is more common among male, young and highly educated respondents living in densely populated areas. Particular attention is dedicated to religious beliefs, attendance of religious services and relevance attributed by religious nones to God in their everyday life.

Research paper thumbnail of Was Blumer Right? Religious Values and Quantified Self in the Petabyte Age

By placing the value alignment problem formulated by Stuart Russell in a historical perspective w... more By placing the value alignment problem formulated by Stuart Russell in a historical perspective within the domain of social sciences, we intend to rise critical questions about coherence, conflicting values and cross-cultural comparability of the concept. In this sense, religious values and the newly rediscovered attention for religious freedom constitute an important example that underlines the empirical relevance of the ongoing debate. How can values be measured? What is the difference between measuring values with small data and measuring them with Big Data? Finally, and this is arguably the most important question, alignment to what?

Research paper thumbnail of How can big data shape the field of non-religion studies? And why does it matter

Patterns, 2021

The shift of attention from the decline of organized religion to the rise of post-Christian spiri... more The shift of attention from the decline of organized religion to the rise of post-Christian spiritualities, anti-religious positions, secularity, and religious indifference has coincided with the deconstruction of the binary distinction between ''religion'' and ''non-religion''-initiated by spirituality studies throughout the 1980s and recently resumed by the emerging field of non-religion studies. The current state of cross-national surveys makes it difficult to address the new theoretical concerns due to (1) lack of theoretically relevant variables, (2) lack of longitudinal data to track historical changes in non-religious positions, and (3) difficulties in accessing small and/or hardly reachable sub-populations of religious nones. We explore how user profiling, text analytics, automatic image classification, and various research designs based on the integration of survey methods and big data can address these issues as well as shape non-religion studies, promote its institutionalization, stimulate interdisciplinary cooperation, and improve the understanding of non-religion by redefining current methodological practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping Scholarly Affinities in the Academic Study of Non-Religion and Secularity

The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is a central organization for the emerging... more The Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN) is a central organization for the emerging field of non-religion studies. As the Network grows, discovering new scholarly affinities becomes increasingly complicated. To better understand this community, an interactive tool was conceived to visualize and navigate over 250 scientific contributions (2008-2020) collected from NSRN's events, blog, book series, and journal. The distribution of scholars in the space is based on lexical distance, so spatial proximity expresses a similarity measure of authors' dictionaries. Isoclines represent an indicator of relevance based on word frequency. Unlike citation analysis, lexical proximity relies on shared verbal units rather than potentially misleading academic hierarchies. By shifting the attention from citations to discourse and word usage, lexical proximity uncovers new configurations of scholars. The work aims to present this innovative open access tool, along with its advantages for the scientific community and reflections on the limitations of NSRN's data management practices.

Research paper thumbnail of Big Data and the Little Big Bang: An Epistemological (R)evolution

Frontiers in Big Data, 2020

Starting from an analysis of frequently employed definitions of big data, it will be argued that,... more Starting from an analysis of frequently employed definitions of big data, it will be argued that, to overcome the intrinsic weaknesses of big data, it is more appropriate to define the object in relational terms. The excessive emphasis on volume and technological aspects of big data, derived from their current definitions, combined with neglected epistemological issues gave birth to an objectivistic rhetoric surrounding big data as implicitly neutral, omni-comprehensive, and theory-free. This rhetoric contradicts the empirical reality that embraces big data: (1) data collection is not neutral nor objective; (2) exhaustivity is a mathematical limit; and (3) interpretation and knowledge production remain both theoretically informed and subjective. Addressing these issues, big data will be interpreted as a methodological revolution carried over by evolutionary processes in technology and epistemology. By distinguishing between forms of nominal and actual access, we claim that big data promoted a new digital divide changing stakeholders, gatekeepers, and the basic rules of knowledge discovery by radically shaping the power dynamics involved in the processes of production and analysis of data.

Research paper thumbnail of Mapping Religious Nones in 112 Countries: An Overview of European Values Study and World Values Survey Data (1981-2020)

Religious non-affiliation is an increasingly discussed topic. Nones constitute a rapidly growing ... more Religious non-affiliation is an increasingly discussed topic. Nones constitute a rapidly growing population that occupies a central role in the secularization debate. The report “Mapping Religious Nones in 112 Countries” uses European Values Study and World Values Survey data collected between 1981 and 2020 to offer an overview of socio-demographic characteristics, geographical distribution, and religiosity of non-affiliated respondents. In four decades nones doubled at a global level reaching 25.9% – 21.7% in non-European countries – and triplicated in Europe with 30.2%. On average, non-affiliation is more common among male, young and highly educated respondents living in densely populated areas. Particular attention is dedicated to religious beliefs, attendance of religious services and relevance attributed by religious nones to God in their everyday life.

Research paper thumbnail of Was Blumer Right? Religious Values and Quantified Self in the Petabyte Age

By placing the value alignment problem formulated by Stuart Russell in a historical perspective w... more By placing the value alignment problem formulated by Stuart Russell in a historical perspective within the domain of social sciences, we intend to rise critical questions about coherence, conflicting values and cross-cultural comparability of the concept. In this sense, religious values and the newly rediscovered attention for religious freedom constitute an important example that underlines the empirical relevance of the ongoing debate. How can values be measured? What is the difference between measuring values with small data and measuring them with Big Data? Finally, and this is arguably the most important question, alignment to what?