ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on concepts discussed in this book. The book with reference to contentions by some sociologists that big digital data sets and the increasingly distributed nature of social research among a diverse range of actors challenge sociologists' role as pre-eminent social researchers. Sociologists may not hold a monopoly over collecting and analyzing data, but they are highly trained in maintaining a critical distance from simplistic assumptions about the benefits of digital technologies and the data they accumulate. In the face of those promoting ever-more detailed analysis of ever-greater data sets, a perspective that is able to both reflect on the social implications of big data and give meaning to these data is vital. Digital technologies are integral parts of contemporary social networks and social institutions such as the family, the workplace, the education system, the healthcare system, the mass media and the economy.
