Datafication research: Mapping the field for a future agenda

Abstract

A growing body of research centers around the concept of “datafication” suggesting a buzz around data studies and, perhaps, the emergence of a research field. This article analyzes and discusses the current state of datafication research. Our dataset comprises 463 publications on datafication identified through a systematic literature search in Web of Science and Scopus, an explorative network analysis of keyword co-occurrences and a content analysis of these publications. We map datafication research interests in various research fields, find that the majority of studies are theoretically oriented, whereas empirical analyses largely apply qualitative approaches and rarely make use of data-driven methods. We suggest studies on datafication can be devised into categories reflecting research interests in either user understandings and practices or in infrastructure and technological processes of datafication. The latter strand is particularly sparse in empirical anchoring, and needs empirical and methodological attention. We conclude by outlining three paths for future datafication research to cross-pollinate infrastructural and user perspectives, highlighting the bridging role of communication research in such an endeavor.