Blog 4: Information visualization & distant reading
What is informational visualization? Simply, it is a visual way to show data and other information that would otherwise be hard to understand through writing. As a visual learner, I can appreciate this very much. However, not all data can be shown as a visual. As explained in the chapter, some data may pose confusing if shown in a visual way. Even sometimes, it may be that the data shown could completely turn out as something unintentional that wasn't close to the main idea.
Close reading is reading a text, and analyzing the passage with great detail. This is done to piece together the main idea in a way that allows the reader to understand the text better. It is a form of reading that lets the reader grasp the points made in a more intimate way. Distant reading is essentially skimming the text or passage in order to decipher the main idea without reading the "fluff." Hence distant reading. Not being present in the reading entirely and just hitting all the essential points. What is interesting about this method is the reader looks for important key words for example to find what should be read vs not be read.
In my own learning, I rely on visuals to help me understand the data presented. It is simply much easier to grasp a concept if I can see what the writing is trying to explain. What I can also draw a connection to is distant reading and data visualizations. These two, for me, go hand in hand. Instead of reading a whole passage, taking a look at a chart/ graph is a good way to understand the text without reading it fully. I admit I do this often. So I can understand the appeal of distant reading. In a way, it actually helps to understand the text better. As I am only reading what is necessary to the lesson. Too much information may lead to me and many others missing the important message of the reading as a whole.
I definitely agree and can relate to being a visual learner in terms of understanding data and information. I think you also gave a great definition of informational visualization, and how sometimes data cannot be composed in a visual way. Sometimes, data needs to be displayed differently for it to be best understood. Close reading also has a lot to do with understanding information. I think as English majors we can all agree that this is something we do often in combination with distant reading. I also agree in that I tend to do more distant reading then close reading so that I can focus on the really important information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and Ava that as a visual learner it’s a lot easier to process visualized information than data that can’t be visualized. Even as an English major, sometimes when data is shown through writing it is so much harder for me to understand. I like the simplicity of your definitions; you explained information visualization and distant reading very well and it was easy to understand. Compared to close reading, I find distant reading very, very helpful for digital humanities passages and the textbook. When there’s more words involved, it makes it harder for me to understand.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you talked about being a visual learner yourself as I definitely am as well. It is very difficult for me to take important information away from just words and no visual presentation or example. However, I do like how you reference that not all data can be shown in a visual way either. Some data especially when close reading, just can't be understood to its full extent from looking at a graph or picture. Not being an english major I find it simply difficult to sit and read a whole passage or pages about a certain topic, but sometimes that is the only way to truly analyze and get the main idea of it. I believe it is easier to distant read and skim certain things, but again you may not always get a full understanding doing so.
ReplyDeleteI like how you thoroughly explain data visualization in this post- as you said, put simply,. it's a way of making sense of data that cannot be easily put into words- and how you go on to make the point that some data cannot be put into visuals. This reminds me of the concept of qualitative v. quantitative data (and thus unstructured v. structured data), which proves interesting because different kinds of qualitative data can actually be turned into quantitative data, such as counting the number of instances of a certain object being present in a photo. Similarly, I imagine unstructured data to be represented well in visualization, whereas structured data seems most fitted for spreadsheets or numerically focused databases.
ReplyDeleteTo wrap up, I can also relate to your discussion on understanding visual data more than writing in some cases, as well as understanding an entirety of a text more so when distant reading. Close reading can prove useful when trying to get a grasp on one concept at a time, however, my own experiences in school have proved a challenge when trying to close read a large amount of text in a small amount of time. I consider videos (depending on the content) to have a broader outlook, similarly to distant reading, which fare as great complimentary resources to textbooks. Though I can see that a lot of work was put into the textbook for this class, the definitions and explanations sometimes prove difficult to follow- which in fact brings us back to a paradox of quantitative visualization and distant reading v. close-reading!
I love your response! I agree, I am also a visual learner. I think having certain aspects of data displayed makes accessing and understanding what that data means easier. I did not fully understand why certain data couldn't be displayed visually, but your explanation on how it transforms itself into something separate made sense to me. I do not really absorb material pertaining to data when it is shown as code, or described with words. But when it is displayed visually, I find it to explain itself essentially. Distant reading to me, was rather self-explanatory by definition, and I would have described it the same way that you did.
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