Democracy in context: using a distributional semantic model to study differences in the usage of democracy across languages and countries

AbstractCross-cultural survey research rests upon the assumption that if survey features are kept constant, data will remain comparable across languages, cultures and countries. Yet translating concepts across languages, cultures and political contexts is complicated by linguistic, cultural, normative or institutional discrepancies. Such discrepancies are particularly relevant for complex political concepts such as democracy, where the literature on political support has revealed significant cross-cultural differences in people’s attitudes toward democracy. Recognizing that language, culture and other socio-political variables affect survey results has often been equated with giving up on comparative research and many survey researchers have consequently chosen to simply ignore the issue of comparability and measurement equivalence across languages, cultures and countries. This paper contributes to the debate, using a distributional semantic lexicon, which is a statistical model measuring co-occurrence statistics in large text data. The method is motivated by structuralist meaning theory, stating that words with similar meanings tend to occur in similar contexts, and that contexts shape and define the meanings of words. Compared to other methodological approaches aimed at identifying and measuring cross-cultural discrepancies, this approach enables us to systematically analyze how the concept of democracy is used in its natural habitat. Collecting geo-tagged language data from news and social online source documents this paper descriptively explores varieties in meanings of democracy across a substantial number of languages and countries, and maps ways in which democracy is used among online populations and regions worldwide.

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Using anchoring vignettes to study quality management across cultures

International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences ◽

10.1108/ijqss-04-2017-0038 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (3/4) ◽

pp. 302-316

Author(s):

Promporn Wangwacharakul ◽

Bozena Bonnie Poksinska

Keyword(s):

Quality Management ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Bias ◽

Study Quality ◽

Pilot Studies ◽

Content Type ◽

Anchoring Vignettes ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

Survey Results

Purpose The aim of this paper is to suggest and demonstrate how anchoring vignettes, as a survey instrument, can be applied to study quality management (QM) across cultures. Cultural differences may create challenges in QM. Quantitative surveys are commonly used to study QM practices but do not consider the cultural bias in the survey results. An important question is how to study QM so that the results are comparable across cultures. Herein, the use of anchoring vignettes is suggested to reduce the problem of cross-cultural incomparability. Design/methodology/approach This paper focuses on developing and testing vignettes for studying QM. Based on previous survey studies, two vignettes for each QM dimension are developed. The vignettes are then tested with two pilot tests on the web-based survey platform. Findings The paper provides a concrete example of how a survey using anchoring vignettes could be designed and used to deal with cultural bias in QM survey Based on hypothetical examples from Swedish and Indian cultures, the results from pilot studies evaluating vignettes are promising and show the applicability of the proposed method. Anchoring vignettes may help to provide more accurate survey results and thereby contribute to understanding of cross-cultural differences in QM practices. One of the challenges is the design of vignettes, which requires high precision and several tests to make the method work. Originality/value The paper discusses the potential of using anchoring vignettes to study QM practices across cultures. This may contribute to better understanding of QM practices in an international context, and thereby help improve QM practices in multinational organisations.

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Digital educational environment in the context of preparing students-linguists for intercultural communication

Pedagogy and Psychology of Education ◽

10.31862/2500-297x-2020-1-173-179 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 173-179

Author(s):

Olga A. Chekun

Keyword(s):

Intercultural Communication ◽

World Economy ◽

International School ◽

Educational Environment ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Digital Tools ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

The World ◽

Survey Results ◽

The Impact

The article explores the issues of preparing students-linguists for intercultural communication using a digital educational environment and various digital tools and the impact of the digital educational environment on students’ motivation. The author considers the pedagogical potential of the digital educational environment and digital tools in preparing students for intercultural communication. The author conducted a survey for students-linguists of “International School of Business and the World Economy” of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics within the course “Introduction to the Theory of Intercultural Communication” in the context of this methodology. The survey results showed positive changes in motivation and understanding of cross-cultural differences.

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Cross cultural factors in phonological change

Language in Society ◽

10.1017/s0047404500000695 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 161-175 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Alan Lomax

Keyword(s):

Relative Frequency ◽

Sex Role ◽

Folk Songs ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

Language Data ◽

Technological Level ◽

Stylistic Function ◽

Phonological Change ◽

Mode Of Production

ABSTRACTSAnalysis of the vowel/consonant patterns in a world sample of folk songs indicates that some speech sounds vary regularly with certain aspects of social structure. Consonant frequencies shift in relation to technological level: mid stops, fricatives and laterals increase in relative frequency along a scale of productive range. Alteration in the vowel map, on the other hand, seems to be related to cross-cultural differences in sex role. Thus changes in phonology, familiar to the linguist, may be symbolic of and explained by familiar societal phenomena. These suppositions are, it is true, based on the analysis of sung languages and remain to be confirmed for speech. However, the power of expressive style as a general diagnostic of the layout of culture implies that they will be so confirmed, since expressive patterns often turn out to be a sort of heightened and extra-redundant version of everyday behavior. Moreover, collections of recorded song performances provide a world-wide resource of ‘unselfconscious’ and culturally validated language data that is simply unavailable for other kinds of speech activity. (Phonology; variation; expressive (stylistic) function; song style; mode of production and se role; cross-cultural sample.)

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Cognitive gadgets: A provocative but flawed manifesto

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19001134 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Marco Del Giudice

Keyword(s):

Theory Of Mind ◽

Cultural Differences ◽

Twin Studies ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Evolutionary Approach ◽

Genetic Inheritance ◽

Double Standards ◽

Cross Cultural Differences ◽

Cherry Picking ◽

Dichotomous Thinking

Abstract The argument against innatism at the heart of Cognitive Gadgets is provocative but premature, and is vitiated by dichotomous thinking, interpretive double standards, and evidence cherry-picking. I illustrate my criticism by addressing the heritability of imitation and mindreading, the relevance of twin studies, and the meaning of cross-cultural differences in theory of mind development. Reaching an integrative understanding of genetic inheritance, plasticity, and learning is a formidable task that demands a more nuanced evolutionary approach.

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