Discovery by abduction and serendipity in the context of open science Practices

• Grant number: 23/01408-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Start date: May 01, 2023
• End date: April 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - Epistemology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Eunice Quilici Gonzalez
• Grantee: Mariana Vitti Rodrigues
• Supervisor: Sabina Leonelli
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências (FFC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Marília. Marília , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Exeter, Exeter, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 20/03134-1 - Epistemological implications of the use of massive amount of data in the process of scientific discovery, BP.PD

Abstract

The objective of this project is to investigate the epistemological implications of the use of massive amounts of data in the process of scientific discovery by serendipity. The concept of serendipity describes processes of scientific discovery by chance and sagacity when knowledge is produced unexpectedly. Emphasis will be given to analysis of the heuristic potential of open science practices in the context of the growing automation of scientific inquiry. Open science practices aim to improve accessibility, transparency, and reproducibility in scientific investigation by increasing the possibility of sharing up-to-date algorithms, modeling tools, datasets, and data infrastructures, on local and global scales. To make sense of the vast amount and diversity of available data, algorithmic models of data analysis have been developed to facilitate the detection of patterns in existent data structures that, ideally, would promote new insights in scientific discovery. In the context of scientific practice, the following problem is going to direct our inquiry: can the process of data use and reuse enhance serendipitous scientific discovery involving the application of algorithmic models of data analysis? To investigate this problem, we will analyze the concept of serendipity in relation to the concept of abduction, understood as a hypothesis-making reasoning that begins with the perception of a surprising fact and ends, provisionally, with the indication of possible directions for further inquiry. Investigation will then be made of the role of abduction in the establishment of strategies for the selection of patterns that are latent in the dynamic flow of digitalized data, characterized as data journeys (Leonelli, 2014, 2020). Finally, we will analyze case studies concerning serendipitous discoveries in the context of open science practices. (AU)