This project focuses on applying a coding-theoretic community clustering algorithm to detect community groups within a datasetof Indigenous beaders on Instagram. Maddie collected and formatted the data using Python, then implemented and contributed to the development of a clustering algorithm alongside Dr. Allison Beemer and Dr. Jessalyn Bolkema (CSU-Dominguez Hills).Maddie was able to produce community clusterings of the dataset of Indigenous beaders, and is working to place these mathematically-generated subgroups in cultural context. In addition, Maddie developed theoretical bounds on the complexity of the algorithm by looking at a parameter called the covering radius of a code, which approximately measures how “far apart” different community structures can be.
