Making Pictures and Producing Data

Do you ‘collect’ or ‘produce’ data? 

Do you ‘take’ a picture or ‘make’ a picture? While in the USA we typically say ‘take a picture,’ other languages and countries use the more active phrase ‘make a picture.’ A whole host of decisions influence the final image: length and quality of the lens, size of opening between the lens and recording surface (F-Stop), length of time the shutter is open (shutter speed), and quality of the recording surface (sensor or film), to name just a few.

Given these decisions, the evocative, active word ‘make’ seems more truthful than the distant and passive ‘take’. We are not ‘taking’ an image that is passively laying there, but rather actively guiding a collaboration between our goals, our chosen photography equipment, and the light bouncing off the world around us.   

In the same way, the passive and distant term ‘data collection’ obscures the deeper truth of the dynamic interactions between our goals, chosen data collection tools (e.g., surveys, interview protocols, recording equipment) and program participants. We don’t ‘collect’ data that is passively laying there, but we instead actively coordinate an interactive data production process. In some ways, you could even say we actually make data.

Let me know how the phrase ‘data production’ prompts helpful reflection and deeper honesty about our active role in the process.