Blog Post #8--Word Clouds as a Tool for Critical Analysis

For the Provost’s Learning Space seminar on Digital Humanities, I revised a project I assign in my HUC117—Introduction to Computer-Mediated Communication course.  This is a digital project that fulfills the research requirement but that asks students to present their issue, claim, research, and implications in an online format rather than as a traditional written essay.  One of the obstacles I dealt with previously was students’ inability to conduct meaningful analysis of the sources consulted for their projects and to draw conclusions from them.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that students read the source material but were incapable of identifying themes that would help them focus their discussions.  As a result of the seminar on Digital Humanities, I discovered the utility of word clouds for identifying themes that can provide guidance with regard to focusing analysis and discussion and that can help to narrow the issue and its implications.

The guidelines for the Digital Project are as follows:

Construct a reader-friendly, content-focused web site that develops and defends an original argument about CMC theory and/or practice discussed in class or in your readings. In terms of writing, this assignment should be equivalent to a 5 page paper (not including references). The project shall be composed of:

(1)  an introduction page that presents your issue/topic and states your thesis,

(2)  a background page that explains key terms and provides a history of your issue,

(3)  a page with word clouds created using Wordle that present the major themes across all the sources you have consulted

(4)  an argument page that persuades the reader to accept your thesis (and that ideally draws attention to the themes identified in your word clouds, and

(5)  an implications page which answers questions like, "what does this mean for

contemporary public life?" or "what's the next policy step?"

I strongly suggest you organize your implications around themes such as technology, identity, and/or culture. You must also provide a references page that provides links, where possible, to your source material (sites are more reliable when they provide references to which readers can link for additional information).

An exemplar was provided for student reference, which I initially created prior to my work with word clouds, but that was revised to include one for a more representative model to which students could refer.  The site was created using Wix, which students are also encouraged to use because of the ease with which sites can be created by students who have little to no web authoring experience. 

The class brainstormed potential topics for exploration, analysis, and discussion.  The discussion was lively and students were particularly drawn to the word clouds both for their visual appeal and for their ability to reveal themes they otherwise might not have identified.  For the purpose of this discussion, two student projects have been chosen as representatives of this project’s success. 

The first project focused on online dating.  This student was interested in the notion of algorithms used for the purpose of matching potential romantic partners, but was also interested in how potential matches present themselves online through their profiles.  The student conducted research that included articles on how to maximize an online profile and the effectiveness of algorithms to match people.  The student identified what she believed to be the key ideas and themes addressed in her research and then created a word cloud.

The main themes identified by the word cloud were, not surprisingly, “people,” “online,” and “dating.”  However, the student was particularly struck by the word cloud’s emphasis on “women.”  She had already noted the importance of profiles, which were also emphasized, but she hadn’t recognized the articles’ focus on women.  As it turned out, when she revisited the articles, she noticed that they emphasize how women should present themselves online in order to attract her ideal mate, the focus seemingly implying that it is more important for women to find a mate than it is for men.  The student concluded that societal norms regarding women’s role in society was implicitly reinforced through the in-depth discussions she consulted for her research.  The student also noticed that the word cloud included references not only to data, but to the data points (the questions asked that provide the information for the algorithm) themselves.  While these weren’t as prominent in the word cloud, they were nevertheless there.  She concluded that the algorithms and the data used for them are frequently scrutinized for their effectiveness in matching potential romantic partners.  This was part of her initial research question, but the word cloud’s focus on this information reinforced her conclusions.

The second project focused on the issue of net neutrality.  The student was particularly interested in this topic given the FCC’s recent proposal that would allow content companies to pay broadband providers for faster Internet speeds delivering their traffic.  The student was interested in how this decision, if implemented, might influence access to content.  Similar to the issues of censorship presented in the exemplar, this student theorized that the elimination of net neutrality would result in internet providers and, potentially, governments to control what content users will and will not be able to access.  The student read a variety of articles and concluded the general consensus is that such a decision would effectively regulate user access to content much the same way governments in other countries control what information is and is not available to citizens.

The main themes or topics emphasized in the word cloud included “FCC,” “internet,” “providers,” and “neutrality.”  This was not surprising given the topic under investigation.  What was interesting for this student was the specific focus on the internet providers themselves.  The student concluded that broadband providers have a vested interest in regulating access in order to increase income and profit.  More interesting to the student was the inclusion of terms that suggested censorship, or at least the potential for it.  Words such as “speech,” “access,” “blocking,” “freedom,” “discrimination,” and “protect.”  While the student recognized the potential legal implication of abandoning net neutrality, he had not considered the aspects of censorship that might become real if the FCC moves forward with the plan.

These two students projects are by no means representative of the entire class.  In fact, at the time of this writing, less than half the class had completed research on their topics and generated word clouds.  Still, the class responded very positively to word clouds as a tool to help them read more critically.  Several indicated that the word clouds provided them with guidance as they returned to the research to better understand the themes identified.  As a tool, then, word clouds provide students with the ability to read more critically and, thus, to conduct more meaningful research and writing.  Unfortunately, because the digital projects aren’t due until the end of the semester (June 2), links are not currently available.  Once the projects have been submitted and evaluated, links will be added to the blog post to better highlight student work and to showcase additional word clouds.