In years gone by, authors of scholarly writing employed specific research methods, such as close reading. When they used close reading methods, they searched for meaning within texts by paying close attention to the literary devices used. Therefore, interpretation of rhythm, imagery and metaphor, were seen as vital concepts. The text was not evaluated along with the author or its historical and cultural context. Instead, there was heavy reliance on evidence provided by the text in order to determine its purpose. This activity was classified as textual criticism.
Distant reading, on the other hand, is a newer rhetorical method, which is considered to have an approach that contrasts with close reading. Distance reading allows researchers to analyze texts as part of a larger body of work instead of looking at a text from the limited lens of its contents. By critiquing the text from this broadened view, which takes into account themes, tropes and systems, researchers can see how meaning is shaped by contexts and relationships. However, this method requires the application of computational processes. Data visualization is therefore critical, as included in its many advantages are swiftly affording researchers a wide range of ideas and information which facilitate exploration, processing and analysis in a creative and rewarding way.
We live in a changing world in which technology is dynamic, as it is constantly advancing and the market now affords researchers a range of useful devices and applications.Therefore, if research is to be meaningful, researchers have to take advantage of new technologies which improve the end product. This impacts us in almost every sphere of life. For example, political campaigners no longer rely heavily on physical house to house visits. Their messages and interactions are largely conducted through social media and websites on the internet which allow them to reach far wider audiences and mobilize extensive numbers of voters. They are also able to research the political landscape and access data which informs their approaches and programs. Interestingly, this work is not necessarily done using computers.
Years ago, when I engaged in college studies, there were no computers. As a result, doing research, for example, on Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, was at times a tedious exercise. Students had no alternative than to resort to acquiring reference texts from the bookstores. The cost proved prohibitive. Therefore they turned to the library shelves which did not offer adequate research material. Therefore, there was heavy reliance on the text, and we explored literary devices such as satire and allegory in order to assess the contributions they made to the political issues that were under consideration.
Today, with the click of a button or touch of a screen, search engines produce multiple sources and links to a range of scholarly writings on the issues, thereby enabling students to explore a body of works, and if they wish, to look at data visualizations in the form of graphs, maps and trees, depending on the requirements of their research. As a result, students now have the opportunity to focus on specific units of varying sizes. However, this does not mean that they discard the idea of close reading, which can serve as a useful entry point to research methods.
Douglas Eyman is an advocate for synthesizing and changing research methods so that they also meet the needs of digital rhetoric, but he is aware that tools of the past such as genre studies and usability have the potential to serve as useful methods for digital research. Genre studies allow for a multi-layered approach by looking at individual as well as collaborative processes. Usability, once it is structured to study writing processes and pedagogies, can be effective as a user-centered framework.
Although Eyman’s discourse has a specific focus on digital writing research, it is instructive to look at advances made in scientific research facilitated by digital technology. For example, Chemistry researchers can engage in a virtual laboratory experience, complete with benches, to conduct experiments by virtually manipulating chemicals. The outcome of this activity can be enhanced by inputting the raw data obtained, into a program which would generate visual charts. Undoubtedly, many disciplines stand to reap immense rewards when existing relevant research methods are synthesized and new ones are developed. Fortunately, students who are primarily visual learners will be among the beneficiaries.
