(including parallel, alternative, or conjoined human and machine processes):
Human Processes (Typical procedure for steps requiring judgment will be to have a panel of three or more people perform the step and compare results. The hermeneutical rhythm will typically consist of iterative cycles of observations suggesting research questions, and research questions suggesting ways to sharpen observation.) |
Machine Processes (We may be able to automate some steps and sequences) |
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1 |
Assess topic models to determine appropriate number of topics. We may decide to generate one, two, or three numbers of topics for simultaneous interpretation. (Questions: Can we define criteria for "best" topic model? Do we know any published theory or methods for choosing right number of topics? Cf. Scotts issues for discussion.pdf) |
Generate topic models at many levels of granularity--e.g., 25, 50, 150, 200, 250, 300, 350, 400, 450, 500
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2 |
Initial analysis of topic models.
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Assemble materials to facilitate interpretation:
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3 |
Detailed analysis of topic model (part I: total corpus, synchonic analysis).
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4 |
Detailed analysis of topic model (part II: comparative analysis).
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Create view of topic model that compares two or more parts of our corpora (e.g., NY Times vs. The Guardian) for the topics and topic weights they contain. We don't yet have an interface or method of using the composition.txt files produced by Mallet to do this. (cf. Goldstone DFR Browser "document view," which shows topics in a single document) (Alan's experiment) |
5 |
Detailed analysis of topic model (part III: time-series analysis).
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Create views of topic model that shows trend lines of topics (created by showing weights of topics in documents at time 1, followed by time 2, etc.). We don't yet have a method or tool for this, but cf. the following time-series views in the Goldstone DFR Browser: topics across years | topics within a single year. See also: demo vizualization of topics in State of Union addresses; the TOM code demos; Robert K. Nelson, "Mining the Dispatch") (Alan's experiment) |
6 |
Write up results:
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