Martin Krzywinski’s Lexical Analysis of 2008 US Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debates:
Please notice that Krzywinski didn’t just copy and paste some text into Wordle’s entry window and assume that the largest words somehow, magically, constituted theme. Wordle was one tool deployed in the service of much deeper analysis.
Previously Sniping:
4 Comments
Christian Long
October 16, 2008 - 12:08 pm -Holy motherboard of language analysis. The MIT linguistics dept. must be feeling just a little semantic envy about now. Political persuasion aside, it is a remarkable example of deconstructing language…
…enhanced by the ability to analyze the results of such study.
Not bad for a math-type guy managing to finally show the ELA folks how to really swing the Wordle hammer — much thanks, Dan. I’ve already passed it around to a few folks in my Dept. just this afternoon.
Given the array of #’s and narratives in Martin’s final product, perhaps the math and ELA folks need each other after all, esp. if the stats gods can become the great hand-holding power in all of our educational lives.
Diana Laufenberg
October 16, 2008 - 12:20 pm -So, I used wordle for an activity earlier this year and I had your Hackwork post in the back of my mind the whole time. However, I found a use that, although nothing like the analysis going on with this particular example, served as a wonderful tool to bring together divergent ideas and look for trends on perceptions of America. I’ll try to carve out a little time to blog about it because I believe that there are valid uses of wordle.
Aaron
October 18, 2008 - 12:18 pm -This is one of the most fascinating things I’ve ever read. Thanks for filling (not wasting) my Saturday afternoon. Now if I can find a way to share this in my math classes without feeling that its a waste of valuable math time I’ll be all set.
Jayne J
November 16, 2008 - 12:33 pm -As a word-nerd and wordle fan, I find it a fun, easy yet unique way to be creative, even when feeling artistically-challenged. Your article is fascinating. I have nothing clever to say but I do thank you! The information you present is eye-opening and expanded my context and content. Such a valuable gift is always appreciated!