Lies, damned lies and statistics

Big data that could be used to identify people as likely child abusers or alcoholics should be treated with the utmost caution, according to University of Queensland researcher Dr Philip Gillingham. The School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work data expert said a fascination with exploring the potential of technology was fraught with human and financial danger. "It is possible that bringing together and mining multiple databases will provide terrific insights into social problems," Dr Gillingham said. "For example, datasets in the USA have demonstrated the relationship between homelessness and mortality, and in Australia big data has been used to understand patterns of criminal offending. "However we also see potential for subjective judgments, errors and inappropriate responses to be magnified on a much bigger scale than ever before. "You could match the data of homeless people and say a large number are alcoholics, so they should be targeted with alcohol rehabilitation, but what caused their situation is never uncovered. "We need caution to ensure that we aren't going to waste resources and insult and stigmatise groups of people." Dr Gillingham collaborated with computational sociologist Timothy Graham of UQ's School of Social Science to deliver a critical perspective on the potential impact of big data in human services.