Data Are Made, Not Found

Where does the data that shapes our democracy actually come from? In her new book, Data Are Made, Not Found, danah boyd takes readers inside the U.S. Census Bureau during one of the most challenging periods in its history: the 2020 Census. Drawing on rare access to the agency and hundreds of interviews, she reveals the people, decisions, and extraordinary effort required to produce one of the nation’s most important datasets—and what was at stake when that process came under pressure.

Join boyd for a conversation about the forces that shape our public data and why protecting the institutions that produce trustworthy information matters to the future of democracy.

Here’s what you’ll experience:

• Go behind the scenes of the U.S. Census and discover what it takes to conduct one of the largest and most consequential data-making efforts in the world.
• Learn how census data shapes everyday life, from political representation to the distribution of billions of dollars in public funding.
• Hear the story of the 2020 Census under pressure, as a global pandemic and political forces constrained the budget, micro-managed the schedule, and challenged statisticians’ methods.
• Consider who gets to shape the data we depend on—and why it matters.

In partnership with the Department of Communication, Stanford University