Fact Forward

Solutions to increase trust and empower better decision making in a data-rich world Fact Forward: The Perils of Bad Information and the Promise of a Data-Savvy Society explores how a growing deluge of data has led to a data-rich world with abundant new opportunities and a precipitous decline in trust due to the problems we face in producing, communicating, and consuming data. This book takes readers on a journey through the data ecosystem, showing how data producers, data consumers, and data disseminators all have a role to play in creating a more data-savvy society. Written by Dan Gaylin, president and CEO of NORC at the University of Chicago, a leading research organization in the field of social science and data science, this book demonstrates the urgent need for: greater transparency on the part of data producers increased data literacy on the part of data communicators and data consumers a societal commitment to data education and infrastructure Fact Forward: The Perils of Bad Information and the Promise of a Data-Savvy Society earns a well-deserved spot on the bookshelves of leaders across industries and all individuals who want to build a better society and world by improving the way we present, analyze, and make use of data.

About the Cover ix Preface xi Chapter 1 The Importance of Being Data Savvy 1 Chapter 2 Understanding the Data Ecosystem 21 Chapter 3 The Breadth of the Data Universe 41 Chapter 4 The Challenge of Data Integrity 65 Chapter 5 Data and Algorithmic Transparency 85 Chapter 6 The Paradox of Data Neutrality 105 Chapter 7 Fostering Data Literacy 131 Chapter 8 Standards and Privacy 155 Chapter 9 Public Data Infrastructure 169 Chapter 10 The Promise and Challenge of Artificial Intelligence 193 Chapter 11 The Data- Savvy Future 215 Notes 227 Acknowledgments 259 About the Author 261 Index 263