An Interpretive Approach to Data Science
The Interpretive Data Science (IDeaS) community brings together management and organization scholars who study data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence in organizations. We combine qualitative and computational methods, and meet for a small, intensive conference most years. What began in 2019 as a collaboration between the University of Alberta and the University of British Columbia now spans institutions across North America and Europe.
What we study
Our work draws together three topics that are normally studied in separate scholarly communities. Holding them together is the point: the methods we use to study organizations are themselves organizational phenomena worth studying.
- New data-analytic techniques in the social sciencesThe reflexive and theoretically informed use of new data analytic techniques in the social sciences that leverage sophisticated algorithms such as topic modeling, natural language processing, and other forms of machine learning.
- The everyday work of data analysts in organizationsThe everyday work of data analysts in organizations — how they construct knowledge practices, and the epistemic infrastructures of organizations; both as an interesting ethnographic and qualitative topic in its own right, and as a means of encouraging our own reflexivity.
- The societal transformation attending the rise of dataThe societal, social, and cultural transformations attending the rise of data and analytics — including changing forms and interpretations of privacy and governmentality — to which social scientists should be able to speak.
Recent conferences
IDeaS meets for a small, intensive workshop most years, hosted by a different institution. Every event since 2019 is recorded here.
Interpretive and Political Approaches to Information Systems and Algorithmic Assemblages
Imperial Business School, London · April 20–21, 2026
The political turn: who shapes, controls, and benefits from algorithmic organizing. Read more
2025Assemblages, Ecosystems, and Fields
Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa · April 30 – May 2, 2025
The first event outside Edmonton, and the start of the rotating-host model. Read more
2024Qualitative Studies of Algorithmic Organizing
University of Alberta, Edmonton · March 20–23, 2024
Twenty-four papers across eight themed sessions. The format scaled up. Read more
Explore
About the community
How IDeaS started, how it has changed, and how it works.
Read moreResearch & people
Our research agenda, the methods we use, and the people who make up the community.
Read moreResources & publications
The volume and special issues, foundational readings, and tools for interpretive work.
Read more