Abstract
The phrase ‘dirt research’ described the ‘direct’ method by which Canadian political economist and communications theorist Harold A. Innis (1894-1952) collected material for his research on economic history in Canada. The result of extensive travels across Canada, where he gathered oral testimonies on the staples industries (fur trade, cod fisheries) and transport systems (rivers, railways) combined with exhaustive archival research, Innis’ method of dirt research sought to establish a ‘general organizing principle’ by which patterns of economic and social development could be understood ‘beyond the basic data’ (Watson).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Depletion Design: A Glossary of Network Ecologies |
| Editors | Carolin Wiedemann, Soenke Zehle |
| Place of Publication | The Netherlands |
| Publisher | Institute of Network Cultures |
| Pages | 47-51 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9789081857512 |
| Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Keywords
- data mining
- dirt research
- information retrieval