Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books
Introduction. With the advance of artificial intelligence and big data, digital humanities have been empowered with new research affordances. However, computational modelling on cultural datasets without a critical examination of the datasets risks decontextualized datafication and misinterpretatio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Borås
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47269 |
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| author | Yuerong Hu Chen Ling |
| author_facet | Yuerong Hu Chen Ling |
| author_sort | Yuerong Hu |
| collection | DOAJ |
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Introduction. With the advance of artificial intelligence and big data, digital humanities have been empowered with new research affordances. However, computational modelling on cultural datasets without a critical examination of the datasets risks decontextualized datafication and misinterpretation, which does not necessarily advance our knowledge into humanities and social sciences questions. This paper presents an exploratory investigation into 37,408 Goodreads reviews on children’s books to showcase the complexities of cultural datasets online, to inform contextualized and critical cultural data analysis.
Method. We conducted topic modelling and qualitative analysis of content on the reviews retrieved by regular expressions and visualized our findings.
Analysis. Our analysis empirically illuminates (1) participation in reviewing children’s literature online, and (2) presentation of topics and opinions in the reviews.
Results. We found that although various family members across generations participate in reading children’s books and reviewing them online, female members play particularly active roles, and children’s opinions are underrepresented.
Conclusions. In addition to gaining insights into reviews on children’s books, this study also demonstrates the importance of exploratory data analysis in gaining a more nuanced understanding of cultural datasets online, which is essential for advancing insightful and critical data analysis.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3efd2acc67284071a3ddd0959b6fab39 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1368-1613 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | University of Borås |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information Research: An International Electronic Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-3efd2acc67284071a3ddd0959b6fab392025-08-20T01:57:20ZengUniversity of BoråsInformation Research: An International Electronic Journal1368-16132025-03-0130iConf10.47989/ir30iConf47269Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's booksYuerong Hu0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8375-9108Chen Ling1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5082-7557Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, United States of AmericaLuddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, United States of America Introduction. With the advance of artificial intelligence and big data, digital humanities have been empowered with new research affordances. However, computational modelling on cultural datasets without a critical examination of the datasets risks decontextualized datafication and misinterpretation, which does not necessarily advance our knowledge into humanities and social sciences questions. This paper presents an exploratory investigation into 37,408 Goodreads reviews on children’s books to showcase the complexities of cultural datasets online, to inform contextualized and critical cultural data analysis. Method. We conducted topic modelling and qualitative analysis of content on the reviews retrieved by regular expressions and visualized our findings. Analysis. Our analysis empirically illuminates (1) participation in reviewing children’s literature online, and (2) presentation of topics and opinions in the reviews. Results. We found that although various family members across generations participate in reading children’s books and reviewing them online, female members play particularly active roles, and children’s opinions are underrepresented. Conclusions. In addition to gaining insights into reviews on children’s books, this study also demonstrates the importance of exploratory data analysis in gaining a more nuanced understanding of cultural datasets online, which is essential for advancing insightful and critical data analysis. https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47269online book reviewscritical data studieschildren’s literaturedigital humanitiesuser-generated content |
| spellingShingle | Yuerong Hu Chen Ling Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books Information Research: An International Electronic Journal online book reviews critical data studies children’s literature digital humanities user-generated content |
| title | Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books |
| title_full | Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books |
| title_fullStr | Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books |
| title_short | Towards nuanced and critical data analysis: an exploratory investigation into complexities of Goodreads reviews for children's books |
| title_sort | towards nuanced and critical data analysis an exploratory investigation into complexities of goodreads reviews for children s books |
| topic | online book reviews critical data studies children’s literature digital humanities user-generated content |
| url | https://publicera.kb.se/ir/article/view/47269 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yueronghu towardsnuancedandcriticaldataanalysisanexploratoryinvestigationintocomplexitiesofgoodreadsreviewsforchildrensbooks AT chenling towardsnuancedandcriticaldataanalysisanexploratoryinvestigationintocomplexitiesofgoodreadsreviewsforchildrensbooks |