1 Citation
These website files and Topic Modelling raw data result tables were used to build a supporting appendix website for the thesis: Debating the US Constitution - A computational approach to the structure and geography of the ratification debate
Thesis AbstractThis thesis uses computational research methods to investigate and analyse the themes and topics under debate during the US Constitutional ratification campaign (1787-1788).The ratification of the Constitution, and the American founding period in general, has been of near constant interest and debate among historians of the United States. There have been many interpretations and re-interpretations of the Constitution’s nature, causes and consequences. The ratification debate has always been a major source for these interpretations. Many aspects of the framing and adoption of the Constitution continue to yield lively debate. However, so far, the ratification debate has not yet been extensively analysed using the relatively new methods labelled as ‘Digital History’.The most comprehensive collection of primary source documents relating to the ratification debate is found in the multi-volume Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, which is now available in digital form at the University of Wisconsin Libraries’ Digital Collections. By subjecting this corpus to computational analysis, this thesis offers quantitative empirical data in a presuppositionless categorisation of the debate’s topics. The resultant research data output is then interpreted, analysed, and contextualised using more traditional qualitative assessment. This combined quantitative and qualitative approach prioritises the importance of using digital techniques to actively engage with creating argument-driven history.The thesis begins with both an outline of the developments in digital historical studies and an overview of the historiography of the American founding, outlining the major interpretative frameworks (broadly categorised as: Progressive; Multiple Traditions; and Federalist, Unionist, and Internationalist). The second chapter provides a detailed description of the methodological tools and approaches used in the research, covering: corpus preparation; topic modelling; network maps; data charts; and GIS mapping. This is then followed by a brief assessment of best-practice in presenting digital research outputs in an historical monograph.Chapter three offers a high-level over...
Thesis AbstractThis thesis uses computational research methods to investigate and analyse the themes and topics under debate during the US Constitutional ratification campaign (1787-1788).The ratification of the Constitution, and the American founding period in general, has been of near constant interest and debate among historians of the United States. There have been many interpretations and re-interpretations of the Constitution’s nature, causes and consequences. The ratification debate has always been a major source for these interpretations. Many aspects of the framing and adoption of the Constitution continue to yield lively debate. However, so far, the ratification debate has not yet been extensively analysed using the relatively new methods labelled as ‘Digital History’.The most comprehensive collection of primary source documents relating to the ratification debate is found in the multi-volume Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, which is now available in digital form at the University of Wisconsin Libraries’ Digital Collections. By subjecting this corpus to computational analysis, this thesis offers quantitative empirical data in a presuppositionless categorisation of the debate’s topics. The resultant research data output is then interpreted, analysed, and contextualised using more traditional qualitative assessment. This combined quantitative and qualitative approach prioritises the importance of using digital techniques to actively engage with creating argument-driven history.The thesis begins with both an outline of the developments in digital historical studies and an overview of the historiography of the American founding, outlining the major interpretative frameworks (broadly categorised as: Progressive; Multiple Traditions; and Federalist, Unionist, and Internationalist). The second chapter provides a detailed description of the methodological tools and approaches used in the research, covering: corpus preparation; topic modelling; network maps; data charts; and GIS mapping. This is then followed by a brief assessment of best-practice in presenting digital research outputs in an historical monograph.Chapter three offers a high-level over...