Datavitskapelig

Datavitskapelig is a neologism used in some Scandinavian academic discourses to denote the scientific study of data and its role in knowledge creation. The term blends data with a form of the word meaning “scientific” in Norwegian or Danish, signaling an emphasis on epistemology within data work rather than purely technical aspects.

Usage and attestation: The term is not widely standardized and is not found in major reference dictionaries. It appears sporadically in scholarly articles, conference discussions, and online platforms that explore the philosophy of data, data governance, and data visualization. Variants such as datavitenskapelig or data-vitenskapelig are more common for “data science” in Norwegian or Danish contexts, while datavitskapelig is a less common spelling.

Scope and topics: Datavitskapelig typically covers questions about how data becomes knowledge, data provenance and quality, bias and uncertainty, reproducibility, methodological rigor, ethics of data use, governance, and the role of visualization and interpretation in drawing inferences from data.

Relation to related fields: It is closely related to data science, informatics, and data governance but is distinguished by its explicit focus on epistemology and scientific validity of data-driven conclusions. In practice, it may overlap with discussions in data ethics and research methodology.

See also data science, data governance, data visualization, epistemology.