Data Literacy Journal, Part 1
Similar to the example of race and the census discussed in the readings, what are the challenges of trying to count the number of artists in a city?
There is a little ambiguity in defining artists. As a result, the category is very ambiguous in how to count artists, so it can be challenging in the city to derive accurate data. In order to collect basic data, it is necessary to determine to what category is defined as an artist. A clear criterion should be presented for whether everyone who simply 'expresses' my thoughts in various ways is referred to as artists or those who express them in things other than writing are referred to as artists. However, defining art is very subjective.
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What questions do you have about the accuracy of the SNAAP data?
As can be seen from page 9 of the report, the remaining 80 percent did not accept the invitation, but there is a phrase saying that it is not possible to know how many people did not accept the invitation. Here, the problem can be identified. This means that the accuracy of the data is significantly low, and it means that it is difficult to identify the right respondents. Data is one of the ways to see a phenomenon at a glance. However, it is difficult to trust the research results if the results of the data are not conclusive and even more than half of them did not participate.
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It also says in this report that 'typically graduates of the arts are satisfied with their training and rarely regret it.' And it is said, "They went to art schools to learn art, and they are generally satisfied with the quality of education they received about their art skills." There are no exact indicators of exactly what form of art they received and what kind of education they received. Data results must have clear categories and criteria, but they are lacking a lot in such details.