Digital Data and Methods as Extension of Qualitative Research Processes: Challenges and Potentials Coming From Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences

Abstract

Integrating digital data and methods can extend the scope of qualitative social research. However, to date, this has hardly ever happened. Computer and data scientists have already developed tools that could be used as a starting point, but they must be adjusted to the special needs of qualitative research. To explore the limits and possibilities for qualitative social research, it is not only essential to critically analyze digital data and the corresponding methods. Researchers should also reflect on their own perspective. In my contribution, I point to connections to the digital humanities and the computational social sciences. Based on the example of a discourse analysis that followed a sociology of knowledge approach, I model the qualitative research process and demonstrate which steps can be extended with digital methods. Subsequently, I discuss key challenges and point to strengths and possible pathways to show how digital data and methods can be further developed. I lay a foundation for creatively integrating new digital elements into the qualitative research process. I thus shed light on the transformation of research questions, fields, methods, and epistemologies.