Is Data Science Transforming Biomedical Research? Evidence, Expertise, and Experiments in COVID-19 Science

Abstract

Biomedical deployments of data science capitalise on vast, heterogeneous data sources. This promotes a diversified understanding of what counts as evidence for health-related interventions, beyond the strictures associated with evidence-based medicine. Focusing on COVID-19 transmission and prevention research, I consider the epistemic implications of this diversification of evidence in relation to: (1) experimental design, especially the revival of natural experiments as sources of reliable epidemiological knowledge; and (2) modelling practices, particularly the recognition of transdisciplinary expertise as crucial to developing and interpreting data models. Acknowledging such shifts in evidential, experimental and modelling practices helps avoid harmful applications of data-intensive methods.