Measuring the evolution of a revised document
By analyzing two drafts of a single written piece, we open windows into that document's evolution that may not be knowable otherwise. However, existing document comparison tools generally do not facilitate scientific inquiry, as they are generally low-throughput and lacking in visual accessibil...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SIG Writing of EARLI
2014-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Writing Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol6_1/Wininger_2014_6_1_abstract.html |
| _version_ | 1811249674662707200 |
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| author | Michael Wininger |
| author_facet | Michael Wininger |
| author_sort | Michael Wininger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | By analyzing two drafts of a single written piece, we open windows into that document's evolution that may not be knowable otherwise. However, existing document comparison tools generally do not facilitate scientific inquiry, as they are generally low-throughput and lacking in visual accessibility. Here, we introduce sequence homology analysis (SHA) as an alternative approach to measuring changes between two documents. SHA is a technique common to molecular biologists viz. studies of amino acid- and DNA sequences, and has been extensively validated. Whereas there is no known application of sequence homology analysis in writing researches, we give overview to its implementation and interpretation, and present a novel algorithm which incorporates SHA into the study of any number of documents in a semi-automated fashion. Additionally, we propose a method for visualization based on standard network analytic conventions. We illustrate SHA, the algorithm, and the network visualization via a publicly accessible dataset of historical significance: consecutive drafts of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech (EFS). Additionally, we describe the parameterization of this routine, its potential for further automation, and its extension into other areas of writing research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:50:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6a601ec63cc14945a49044e8af25156c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2030-1006 2294-3307 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T15:50:44Z |
| publishDate | 2014-06-01 |
| publisher | SIG Writing of EARLI |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Writing Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-6a601ec63cc14945a49044e8af25156c2022-12-22T03:26:31ZengSIG Writing of EARLIJournal of Writing Research2030-10062294-33072014-06-0161128doi:10.17239/jowr-2014.06.01.1Measuring the evolution of a revised documentMichael Wininger By analyzing two drafts of a single written piece, we open windows into that document's evolution that may not be knowable otherwise. However, existing document comparison tools generally do not facilitate scientific inquiry, as they are generally low-throughput and lacking in visual accessibility. Here, we introduce sequence homology analysis (SHA) as an alternative approach to measuring changes between two documents. SHA is a technique common to molecular biologists viz. studies of amino acid- and DNA sequences, and has been extensively validated. Whereas there is no known application of sequence homology analysis in writing researches, we give overview to its implementation and interpretation, and present a novel algorithm which incorporates SHA into the study of any number of documents in a semi-automated fashion. Additionally, we propose a method for visualization based on standard network analytic conventions. We illustrate SHA, the algorithm, and the network visualization via a publicly accessible dataset of historical significance: consecutive drafts of United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech (EFS). Additionally, we describe the parameterization of this routine, its potential for further automation, and its extension into other areas of writing research.http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol6_1/Wininger_2014_6_1_abstract.htmlsequence homologyrevisionEisenhowerdraftplagiarism |
| spellingShingle | Michael Wininger Measuring the evolution of a revised document Journal of Writing Research sequence homology revision Eisenhower draft plagiarism |
| title | Measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| title_full | Measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| title_fullStr | Measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| title_full_unstemmed | Measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| title_short | Measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| title_sort | measuring the evolution of a revised document |
| topic | sequence homology revision Eisenhower draft plagiarism |
| url | http://www.jowr.org/abstracts/vol6_1/Wininger_2014_6_1_abstract.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michaelwininger measuringtheevolutionofareviseddocument |