In her column on Inside IT, Esra Suel explains why digital data cannot replace traditional methods such as surveys and censuses. Volume is not the same as insight, and those who limit their research to what the data reveals lose sight of the questions that really matter. The targeted combination of digital data and surveys provides answers that go beyond what either source could achieve on its own.
We have more data about our cities than ever before. And yet important questions remain unanswered.
Esra Suel
DSI Professor and Associate Professor of Urban Analytics at the Department of Geography, University of Zurich