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Q&A Should I write "what do the data show" or "what does the data show"?

What does the data show? I believe data is a collective noun (though I am not 100% sure on that). Collective nouns are plural only when the context is speaking of their individual parts, or m...

posted 9y ago by Thomas Myron‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T17:48:58Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/17444
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T04:17:28Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/17444
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T04:17:28Z (about 5 years ago)
> What does the data show?

I believe `data` is a collective noun (though I am not 100% sure on that). Collective nouns are plural only when the context is speaking of their individual parts, or members. Otherwise they are singular. Therefore, you would use `does`, which is the singular form of the verb `do`.

Now if you were to say:

> What do the data **records** show?

Things would be different, because you are referring to the members of the data (records).

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2015-05-26T23:56:18Z (over 9 years ago)
Original score: 1