OT: Mass nouns and "data"
Usage is mixed on this. Wikipedia gives a good outline:
Data is now often treated as a singular mass noun in informal usage, but usage in scientific publications shows a divide between the United States and United Kingdom. In the United States the word data is sometimes used in the singular, though scientists and science writers more often maintain the traditional plural usage. Some major newspapers such as the New York Times use it alternately in the singular or plural. In the New York Times the phrases "the survey data are still being analyzed" and "the first year for which data is available" have appeared on the same day. In scientific writing data is often treated as a plural, as in These data do not support the conclusions, but many people now think of data as a singular mass entity like information and use the singular in general usage. British usage now widely accepts treating data as singular in standard English,[5] including everyday newspaper usage[6] at least in non-scientific use.[7] UK scientific publishing still prefers treating it as a plural.[8] Some UK university style guides recommend using data for both singular and plural use[9] and some recommend treating it only as a singular in connection with computers.[10]
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