SMUS Brazil 2022 | 08. - 10. September 2022 | OnlineSession 08: Sense-making with (Unconventional) Large Digital Datasets in Social and Cultural Research – Methodological Challenges and Approaches | SMUS Brazil 2022

29 August 2022

Photo: SMUS Brazil 2022

D-WISE invites to their session and presentations at the upcoming International Conference SMUS Brazil 2022 virtually taking place 8. - 10. September 2022

Session 08
08. Sense-making with (Unconventional) Large Digital Datasets in Social and Cultural Research – Methodological Challenges and Approaches
Session Informations:
Sub-session 08.1. Reflecting the Gap, Conceptualizing How to Bridge Between Structural and Interpretative Methods
Day: Thursday, Sept. 8th
Time: 10:45 – 12:45 (BRT)
Duration: 120 min

Sub-session 08.2. Extending Structural Analyses of Large Data Sets with Interpretative Approaches
Day: Thursday, Sept. 8th
Time: 13:00 – 14:30 (BRT)
Duration: 90 min

Sub-session 08.3. Enhancing and Complementing Ethnographic and Discourse Approaches with Structural Analytics
Day: Friday, Sept. 9th
Time: 13:45 – 15:15 (BRT)
Duration: 90 min

Session Abstract:
The internet with its variety of communication platforms and many other digital media technol-ogies, such as GPS, Messenger Communication and others more, provide rich materials for social and cultural research. These materials enable researchers to access traces of human activities and meanings on a much larger and more varied scale than possible with traditional methods of data collection. At the same time, they call for new research approaches because the enormous amount of digital materials and their specific character as sources for research challenge the established methodologies in both qualitative and quantitative research ap-proaches. The elaborated theoretical and methodological frameworks, developed to consider complexity and contextuality in social and cultural research, often collide with the capabilities of available digital tools and methods, as well as sophisticated artificial intelligence technologies, which are excellent in identifying structures on the surface of texts or visual materials but perform poorly in understanding meanings. Additionally, the structure and salient characteristics of the data are often only partially known, as many data sources are primarily digital by-products of activities collected for purposes beyond research and repurposed for scientific analysis. In contrast to other large-scale datasets traditionally used in scientific research, such as demographical data, most of these data sources are used only sporadically in social and cultural research. With the exception of very few digital data sources popular in social and cultural research, such as Twitter data, researchers have few best practices to help them face the challenges of procuring, preparing and analyzing new digital data sources. The panel invites contributions that address the challenge of bridging the gap between structural computational and interpretative analyses by developing integrative methodological approaches, either from the perspective of quantitative or of qualitative discourse and ethnographic research. It particularly focuses on how to cope with the specific nature of large digital data sets, how the analytical modes are implemented in research practices, how this interplay of structural and interpretation is organized in a meaningful way, and what this means in terms of quality and effectiveness of the research process. By focusing on the gap between structural computational and interpretative approaches and discussing a range of concrete examples from practical experience, the panel seeks to address the epistemological challenges that arise from the use of large-scale digital data sets and AI-assisted methods for sense-making in the social sciences and the humanities.

Sub-session 08.1. Reflecting the Gap, Conceptualizing How to Bridge Between Structural and Interpretative
Moderator: Gertraud Koch

On the Inability of Computer Programmes to Understand Attributions of Meaning and the Possibilities of Using them for Qualitative Discourse AnalysesAuthor: Gabriela Christmann
(Con)sequences of Reading Archaeological Reports Close by and in DistanceAuthor: Isto Huvila
Denialism and Authoritarianism: Methodological and Theoretical Questions to Analyze the Telegram Media ContentAuthor: Pablo Emanuel Romero Almada
Social Digital Memory in the Borderlands: An Ontology-Based Digital Humanities Approach to Analyzing Semiotic Activity on Social Network SitesAuthors: Costis Dallas, Rimvydas Laužikas, Ingrida Kelpšienė
Rethinking Automated Annotation Through the Lens of Hermeneutics: Qualitative Discourse Analysis with Digital Tools and MethodsAuthor: Gertraud Koch

Sub-session 08.2. Extending Structural Analyses of Large Data Sets with Interpretative Approaches
Moderator: Dzifa Ametowobla

The Role of Context for Data Construction and Analysis: How Structural and Interpretative Approaches Complement Each Other When Making Sense with (Unconventional) Large Digital DatasetsAuthor: Dzifa Ametowobla
The Pandemic COVID-19 and the Impacts on Public Policy Councils: What Is the Place of Participation in Confronting the New Coronavirus?Authors: Eduardo Moreira da Silva, Ana Luiza Martins de Medeiros, Joe Campos Costa, Júnio Carlos Marques Santos, Giulia Aguiar Simões, Luiza Meireiles Araújo Gomes
Bots on Social Media: Theoretical and Methodological Challenges for the Field of Political Behavior and CommunicationAuthor: Amanda Freitas Carnaiba
Using Geolocation to Infer Costly Activities/EventsAuthor: Olga Kellert

Sub-session 08.3. Enhancing and Complementing Ethnographic and Discourse Approaches with Structural Analytics
Moderator: Isabel Eiser

Public Discourses on the Benin Bronzes in Three Case Studies: Working with Big Data and Multimodal Digital Materials in Qualitative Discourse AnalysesAuthor: Isabel Eiser
The Calling with Women: Gendered Mobilities Among Brazilian Evangelicals on WhatsAppAuthor: Lorena Mochel
Learning about Long-Term Developments in Scientific Discourses from Google Books N-Gram Viewer – A Methodological ExplorationAuthor: Gertraud Koch
Religion and Ethical Boundaries of the Digitization and Digitalization Practices in AfricaAuthor: Gabriel Faimau

Session Organizers

Gertraud Koch (Universität Hamburg, Germany)

Isabel Eiser (Universität Hamburg, Germany)

Dzifa Ametowobla (Technische Universität Berlin, Germany)