We’re data scientists for justice.
Each month we write about a mathematical or scientific concept we use in our work and how it can be applied to understanding the world.
In Structural Zero, we offer some of the real world examples we've come across, including the times when we or our partners worked to collect and process data in very dangerous situations. We talk about some of the key insights we've uncovered through our work, and the cultural context for understanding what those insights mean.
You don’t have to be a statistician to get a lot out of our newsletter. We hope to make the newsletter particularly helpful for people who don't have a background in math or statistics but are curious about how data shapes what we know about the world. (Though if you happen to be a data scientist, you’ll also delight in this newsletter.)
The goal of the newsletter isn't just to teach you about statistical concepts, but to explore some of the deeper issues we grapple with in our work, like:
How do any of us really know anything about what happened in the past?
How can we act as responsible stewards for collective memory?
What does it mean to offer uncertainty in a world that loves to speak in absolutes?
How can machine learning offer insights that weren't possible before, and where might it enhance bias instead of uncovering truth?
We also talk specifically about the vital lessons learned from people who lived in countries where democracies failed and authoritarianism took root. While we hope none of our readers will ever need these lessons, we know we are living in tumultuous times. Things can change quickly and it’s good to be prepared.
None of our content on Substack will ever be kept behind a paywall.
The writers (Patrick, Megan, Bailey, Tarak, and Maria) all work for a small nonprofit based in California called the Human Rights Data Analysis Group, which we shorten to HRDAG (pronounced “H.R. Dag”). If you like what we do, please help us by subscribing and suggesting Structural Zero to your own readers. If you’d like to support HRDAG financially, we are a nonprofit and you can donate to us.
