Taken for granted? Investigating constructivist principles with Bayes’ theorem in Digital Humanities scholarship

Abstract This article investigates the intersection of constructivist principles and statistical methods within Digital Humanities (DH) scholarship. While constructivist principles are foundational, albeit often implicit, in DH scholarship, the increasing use of statistical methods, especially Bayesian approaches, introduces epistemological tensions. Therefore, this article examines the latent constructivist assumptions in DH and explores how these principles resonate with or diverge from the epistemic premises of Bayesian statistics. It argues that there are interferences between Bayesian statistics and constructivism. The main aim is to reveal how epistemological assumptions shape knowledge production, in order to pave the way for a more reflective epistemology of DH scholarship.