Workshop Description
This workshop provides a hands-on introduction to Discourse Network Analysis (DNA), an approach that combines (qualitative) content analysis with network analysis. By coding who says what about which concept, and whether they agree or disagree, DNA links the actors in a debate to its contents. This allows us to analyze a debate at both levels: coalitions of actors who share positions, and clusters of arguments that are used together, for example in the debate about how to regulate artificial intelligence. We will first develop the intuition behind DNA: how statements become networks of actors and concepts. Using a small hands-on example, we will then show how this works in practice, from coding statements by hand to coding them in the Discourse Network Analyzer and visualizing the resulting networks in R. Finally, we will get a sneak preview of how large language models can automate parts of this process, and of how we would know whether they do it well. No prior knowledge of network analysis or programming is required. If you would like to follow along on your own laptop, it helps to install the Discourse Network Analyzer beforehand, but you can also join without it: most of the workshop works on paper and on screen. The goal is to get you started on applying DNA in your own research.
Part of the Political Economy Research Workshop at the Technical University of Munich, 27 October 2026.
