Visual Methods for Digital Research An Introduction

Over the last decade, images have become a key feature of digital culture; at the same time, they have made a mark on a wide range of research practices.

Visual Methods for Digital Research is the first textbook to bring the fields of visual methods and digital research together. Presenting visual methods for digital and participatory research, the book covers both the application of existing digital methods for image research, and new visual methodologies developed specifically for digital research. It covers various approaches to studying digital images, including the distant reading of image collections, the close reading of visual vernaculars of social media platforms, and participatory research with visual materials. Offering a theoretical framework illustrated with hands-on techniques, Sabine Niederer and Gabriele Colombo provide compelling examples for studying online images through visual and digital means, and discuss critical data practices such as data feminism and digital methods for social and cultural research.

This textbook is an accessible guide for students and researchers of digital humanities, social sciences, information and communication design, critical data visualisation, and digital visual culture.

Preface
Acknowledgements
Figures

1. Research with Images: An Introduction
2. Distant Images: Reading Large Collections
3. Networked Images: Platform Image Analysis
4. Critical Images: Exposing Inequalities with Visual Research
5. Participatory Images: Talking Back to Maps
6. Machine Images: Generative Visual AI for Research
Conclusion: Considering Visual Methods for Digital Research

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Sabine Niederer is Professor of Visual Methodologies at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Gabriele Colombo is a Researcher in the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano and an affiliated researcher with the Visual Methodologies Collective at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences