Christopher Giofreda
The power of Python is said to be impossible to overestimate. That’s why Elena Knudsen and I packed a lunch and went off to attend a series of data analytics workshops hosted by ODU’s Research Computing Group. As expected in an advanced course of coding instruction, we encountered a bevy of engineers and coders and nary a soul from the English department. The pace was blistering. The instructor surpassed my limited Python in the first hour, though I still say I can change the colors on a bar chart with the best of ‘em.
Any students or faculty wishing to see advanced patterns in large data sets should bookmark the group’s web site. English has many qualitative researchers using large data sets – content analysis of periodicals is one example – and a Python workshop can be a useful tool to make your database speak. Humans read well in depth but the breadth and objectivity of a machine are…impossible to underestimate. And at the very least, if you come prepared to work hard and sweat a little bit, you too may be able to change the colors of your charts.
