Big Data, Little Individual: Considering the Human Side of Big Data. Issue 4 (17th December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Karim, Michael N.; Willford, Jon C.; Behrend, Tara S.
• Is Part Of: Industrial and organizational psychology. Volume 8:Issue 4(2015:Dec.)
• Page Start: 527
• Page End: 533
• Publication Date: 2015-12-17
• Subjects: Psychology, Industrial -- Periodicals; Organizational behavior -- Periodicals; 158.705
• DOI: 10.1017/iop.2015.78
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1754-9426

Abstract

Abstract : Guzzo, Fink, King, Tonidandel, and Landis (2015 ) provide a clear overview of the implications of conducting research using big data. One element we believe was overlooked, however, was an individual-level perspective on big data; that is, what impact does this sort of data collection have on the individuals being studied? As psychologists, the ethics and impact of big data collection from workers should be at the forefront of our minds. In this reply, we use years of research on electronic monitoring and tracking to provide evidence that an individual-level perspective is an essential part of the discussion surrounding industrial–organizational psychology and big data. Specifically, we examine electronic performance monitoring (EPM) literature to identify how the widespread, pervasive collection of employee data affects employees' attitudes and behaviors.