Detecting research patterns and paratextual features inAEword clouds, keywords, and titles
Laura M. Ahearn · American Ethnologist · 2014
ABSTRACT The keywords and titles fromAE's 2013, 2003, 1993, and 1983 articles are a cryptic, condensed metanarrative that authors tell about their own scholarship. They thus offer an opportunity to reflect on directions in anthropological research over the past few decades. In addition, the tables and word clouds that can be generated from those keywords and titles demonstrate how the presentation of information can influence its perception and interpretation. In this commentary, I note some patterns in theAEdata and present sets of word clouds that demonstrate how differently the same array of words can appear because of paratextual features such as font and the placement of the words. I also present the selection of keywords and titles as a set of literacy practices.