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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...
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#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2019-12-12T17:48:58Z (over 4 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
System
·
2019-12-08T04:17:28Z (over 4 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
> 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
System
·
2015-05-26T23:56:18Z (almost 9 years ago)
Original score: 1