Re: Data a collective noun?

[Mary McWilliams Johnson <mary -at- SUPERCONNECT -dot- COM>]

Like Rahel, my sensibilities jangle when I read or hear "data are." If that
usage is correct, then I will probably avoid like the plague using the word
"data" every again in a technical document. I would probably use
"statistics," "surveys," "figures," "evidence," "known facts," etc.

On the other hand, I'll bet that no one would notice at all if I were to
use the construction "data is."

Cordially,

              ------------------------------º><º------------------------------
                                 Mary McWilliams Johnson
                               McJohnson Communications
                                  Documentation Specialist
                Web Site Design, Development and Graphics
                                  www.superconnect.com
              ------------------------------º><º------------------------------

At 10:55 AM 7/3/98 -0600, Heidi Martin wrote:
>Rahel Bailie wrote:
>
>"As a tech writer, I worry about similar wording issues, but as an end
>user, all I want is to read the instructions and install whatever
>hardware/software I've bought. I don't want to be distracted by what
>appears to be odd use of language. I hear "data is" continually; if
>someone were to say or write "data are", it would be a distraction. That
>means I'll be thinking about why the writers used that word combination
>instead of what's in the next couple of sentences. Right or wrong, "data
>is" sounds more natural to my [North American] ear."
>
>I have to disagree with Rahel on this point:  the correct use of the
>word data is not distracting.  Data should be used as a plural, and
>sounds just fine as a plural.  Read this quote from US - Time and the
>Melting Pot, June 28, 1998, by John Robinson, Bart Landry, and Ronica
>Rooks http://www.world-view.com/database/ecast_format.hmx?articleid=26
>"The data show several important similarities that apply across all
>groups. But they also reveal differences..."
>I can't think of many instances when singular datum would be used, which
>is probably why the word data has morphed in our North-American
>consciousness into something which it is not.  However, I cannot think
>of any reason for us, as writers, to incorrectly use the term data as a
>singular noun.  How many times have you ever referred to a single datum
>of anything?
>On the other hand, it is quite possible to use the construction "data
>is" without referring to data as a singular noun, such as:  "The
>conclusion of the data is clear."
>IMHO,
>Heidi Martin
>Technical Writer
>MCMS, Nampa, Idaho
>