PhD Discussion Forum

okay, bad title. I'm well aware which it is, I'm just asking what you use. I taught academic English to international students for years before starting this phd, and 'the data show' and 'the data are' have always sounded wrong to me, no matter how many times I read it. Now I have to actually use it, it sounds even stranger. I'm a linguist, so I'm happy with the process of language change and the reasons behind it, I'm just interested what people tend to use. Hey, let's have a poll!

Datum = singlular Data = plural no?

I would use 'data' for singular or plural. 'Datum' sounds outdated to me. As it's a grey area, follow the practice of your discipline.

Strangely, if you pronounce 'data' as the Americans do (DA-TA), it doesn't sound so wrong.

When I'm undecided about word usage, I Google the two phrases and I use the one with the most hits....crude but often effective.

Same here. It's a good way of checking. Thing is, then I get sidetracked...

Hi, I would say that 'data' is now what is called a "collective noun" in English. Note for instance, the use of the word HAIR. When we say she has red hair, indeed yes, we know that she does not have a single strand of hair, but we are referring to the millions of hairs, but we do use the singular "FORM" to express the conceptual category of PLURALITY, and accordingly the verb it takes is also for the singular form.

So, going by that logic, DATA as a word is perhaps now in the collective, the form is plural (as opposed to datum), the usage in conceptual terms can be singular or plural (does it even matter?) and the sentence treats it as singular.


So, the "data is complex" should suffice... :-)