Paper short abstract:

While the field of digital methods in the humanities and social sciences encompasses a diverse range of approaches and methodologies, this presentation aims to offer an updated and detailed categorisation of the various streams within digital methods.

Paper long abstract:

The field of digital methods in the humanities and social sciences encompasses a diverse array of approaches and methodologies. Richard Rogers's "manifesto" (2009), which advocates for the principle of "follow the medium," provides a common foundation in this area. Initially associated with computational analytics, "big" datasets, and visualisation software, the first wave of digital methods has faced challenges in the “post-API” era, especially due to significant changes in the relationship between commercial platforms and academic research. However, digital methods in the humanities and social sciences are not limited to computational techniques and automated API-based scraping; they also incorporate critical perspectives and a mixture of various approaches–including qualitative ones, reflecting the dynamic and evolving nature of this interdisciplinary field. Building on earlier works that mapped this domain (Marres, 2012; Snee et al., 2016), this presentation aims to offer an updated and nuanced categorisation of the various streams within digital methods.