Operationalizing anthropological theory: four techniques to simplify networks of co-occurring ethnographic codes

Applied Network Science

Research

Bruno Pinaud¹  Guy Melançon¹  Alberto Cottica²  Veronica Davidov³  Richard Mole⁴  Wojciech Szymański⁴  Jan Kubik⁵  Magdalena Góralska⁶ 

[1] CNRS, Bordeaux INP, LaBRI, UMR 5800, University of Bordeaux, Talence, France;Edgeryders, Tallinn, Estonia;Edgeryders, Tallinn, Estonia;Monmouth University, West Long Branch, USA;Rutgers University, Newark, USA;Rutgers University, Newark, USA;University College of London, London, UK;Rutgers University, Newark, USA;University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland;

关键词: Sociology;    Anthropology;    Ethnography;    Networks;    Visual analytics;   

DOI  :  10.1007/s41109-023-00547-6

 received in 2023-01-25, accepted in 2023-04-24,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

The use of data and algorithms in the social sciences allows for exciting progress, but also poses epistemological challenges. Operations that appear innocent and purely technical may profoundly influence final results. Researchers working with data can make their process less arbitrary and more accountable by making theoretically grounded methodological choices. We apply this approach to the problem of simplifying networks representing ethnographic corpora, in the interest of visual interpretation. Network nodes represent ethnographic codes, and their edges the co-occurrence of codes in a corpus. We introduce and discuss four techniques to simplify such networks and facilitate visual analysis. We show how the mathematical characteristics of each one are aligned with an identifiable approach in sociology or anthropology: structuralism and post-structuralism; identifying the central concepts in a discourse; and discovering hegemonic and counter-hegemonic clusters of meaning. We then provide an example of how the four techniques complement each other in ethnographic analysis.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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