I would also like to add that I think there is information to be understood only by seeing very large patterns in the material. Following my forest in the trees analogy, it would be like seeing the forest from a very high altitude and realizing it is deliberately arranged in such a way to look like a gigantic smiley face. You will never notice the smiley face if you only go around with a magnifying glass looking at each individual tree. Of course, if you never bust out the magnifying glass, you may never find some interesting new species of fungus growing on a tree. Thus, I find value in both methodologies, but am especially am wired to try to find the larger patterns.
