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The Big Duplicity of Big Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2015

Thomas J. Whelan*
Affiliation:
Training Industry, Inc., Cary, North Carolina
Amy M. DuVernet
Affiliation:
Training Industry, Inc., Cary, North Carolina
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Thomas J. Whelan, 401 Harrison Oaks Boulevard, Suite 300, Cary, NC 27513. E-mail: [email protected]

Extract

As discussed in Guzzo, Fink, King, Tonidandel, and Landis's (2015) focal article, big data is more than a passing trend in business analytics. The plethora of information available presents a host of interesting challenges and opportunities for industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology. When utilizing big data sources to make organizational decisions, our field has a considerable amount to offer in the form of advice on how big data metrics are derived and used and on the potential threats to validity that their use presents. We’ve all heard the axiom, “garbage in, garbage out,” and that applies regardless of whether the scale is a small wastebasket or a dump truck.

Type
Commentaries
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2015 

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