笔谤辞蹿别蝉蝉辞谤听Eran Tal聽from the Department of Philosophy聽has had his聽聽renewed聽by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.聽The CRC in Data Ethics was聽established聽in 2019 and is dedicated to the study of the ethical and social dimensions of data collection and data use in scientific research,聽healthcare聽and policy.听听
Professor Tal was thrilled by the renewal of his Chair聽and is聽especially glad to be able to continue to support and train the excellent research students and postdocs in聽.听听
Through his research chair, Professor Tal聽co-founded the聽,聽an interdisciplinary academic society for scientists, philosophers and historians that promotes research on measurement across disciplines.聽
鈥淓arly in my career, I was lucky to meet other researchers who were similarly enthusiastic about the history and philosophy of measurement,鈥� says Professor Tal. 鈥淲e started organizing events and co-authoring papers, and more people joined. The SSM grew organically from these collaborations and was officially founded in 2022.鈥澛犅�
This June, the SSM will be hosting its biennial conference, which will take place at the University of Edinburgh.聽
鈥淥ne of the ideas we will examine is the belief that good measurement is a guide to truth,鈥� says Professor Tal.聽鈥淚t is intuitive to think that reliable clocks and thermometers tell you something about nature independently of how scientists measure it. Machine learning researchers sometimes call the measurement data they use to train their models 鈥榞round truths鈥�.聽Yet we know that measurement involves a variety of theoretical and statistical assumptions and depends on human interpretation. The theme of 'ground truth and validity' is an invitation to explore this tension.鈥澛犅�
Since 2024, Professor Tal has held a role as a member of Statistics Canada鈥檚 Advisory Council on data ethics. Through his聽CRC in Data Ethics, Tal聽advises聽Canada鈥檚 Chief Statistician on ways to track and minimize risks to the safety and privacy of Canadians.听听
鈥淪tatistics Canada strives to provide Canadians with reliable and up-to-date data on almost every aspect of life, from demographic and economic data to health and environmental data,鈥� says Professor Tal. 鈥淒elivering reliable information to policy makers and the public is crucial, especially in the age of widespread misinformation and disinformation. Statistics Canada is currently undertaking a significant technological and administrative shift that will modernize the way it collects and provides access to data, and the challenge is doing all this in a manner that does not create significant risks to safety and privacy and does not perpetuate biases and social inequalities.鈥澛犅�
鈥淚t is fascinating work and a chance to make positive聽change,鈥澛燼dds聽Professor Tal.听听聽聽
Professor Tal is currently working on a new book that will explain why measurement is usually a better source of scientific evidence than some other methods, such as data-driven modelling and computer simulation.聽
Professor Tal is also focusing his efforts on a project concerning patient-reported mental health measurement, collaborating with a youth mental health service in British Columbia.聽
鈥淚 am developing a framework聽I鈥檓聽calling聽鈥楻esponsible Measurement鈥櫬爐hat helps mental health service providers adapt their data collection procedures to the specific patient population they serve and the treatments they offer,鈥� says Tal.聽
Learn more about Professor Tal鈥檚 research and work as the CRC in Data Ethics聽.