Health-related nudging

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoinette Fage-Butler
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Product Placement ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Public Perspectives ◽  
Foucauldian Theory

The aim of this paper is to present a methodological approach that provides analytical, critical and normative purchase on nudges’ bypassing of reflection, using a combination of multimodal analysis, Foucauldian theory, and Habermas’s (1996) concept of deliberative democracy. The approach is demonstrated using an example of a health-related nudge from the Danish context: healthy product placement in a supermaket. Multimodal analysis highlights how various modes (colour, symbol, front and back, positioning and discourse) contribute meanings to the nudge. A Foucauldian perspective provides critical perspectives on nudges as shaping practices, as short of epistemic content and thus potentially difficult to resist, and as representing a politicisation of public space. Nudges’ lack of transparency is discussed in relation to Habermas’s normative framework of deliberative democracy where recognising public perspectives and ensuring consensus are key. Limitations of the article include a smaller data set; however, the data are used to illustrate the methodological approach. On the basis of the findings, I argue for the importance of furthering critical public discourse on nudging. That way, nudgees may be better positioned to spot nudges, and the implications of policymakers using this technique of governance can be more effectively scrutinised.

Some statistical and CI models to predict chaotic high-frequency financial data

2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 6419-6430
Author(s):  
Dusan Marcek
Keyword(s):  
Time Series Data ◽  
Moving Average ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Back Propagation ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Series Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Training Time ◽  
Optimal Population ◽  
Forecast Time

To forecast time series data, two methodological frameworks of statistical and computational intelligence modelling are considered. The statistical methodological approach is based on the theory of invertible ARIMA (Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average) models with Maximum Likelihood (ML) estimating method. As a competitive tool to statistical forecasting models, we use the popular classic neural network (NN) of perceptron type. To train NN, the Back-Propagation (BP) algorithm and heuristics like genetic and micro-genetic algorithm (GA and MGA) are implemented on the large data set. A comparative analysis of selected learning methods is performed and evaluated. From performed experiments we find that the optimal population size will likely be 20 with the lowest training time from all NN trained by the evolutionary algorithms, while the prediction accuracy level is lesser, but still acceptable by managers.

scholarly journals Investigating the impact of pre-processing techniques and pre-trained word embeddings in detecting Arabic health information on social media

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahya Albalawi ◽  
Jim Buckley ◽  
Nikola S. Nikolov
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Deep Learning ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Classification Problem ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Word Embeddings ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis paper presents a comprehensive evaluation of data pre-processing and word embedding techniques in the context of Arabic document classification in the domain of health-related communication on social media. We evaluate 26 text pre-processings applied to Arabic tweets within the process of training a classifier to identify health-related tweets. For this task we use the (traditional) machine learning classifiers KNN, SVM, Multinomial NB and Logistic Regression. Furthermore, we report experimental results with the deep learning architectures BLSTM and CNN for the same text classification problem. Since word embeddings are more typically used as the input layer in deep networks, in the deep learning experiments we evaluate several state-of-the-art pre-trained word embeddings with the same text pre-processing applied. To achieve these goals, we use two data sets: one for both training and testing, and another for testing the generality of our models only. Our results point to the conclusion that only four out of the 26 pre-processings improve the classification accuracy significantly. For the first data set of Arabic tweets, we found that Mazajak CBOW pre-trained word embeddings as the input to a BLSTM deep network led to the most accurate classifier with F1 score of 89.7%. For the second data set, Mazajak Skip-Gram pre-trained word embeddings as the input to BLSTM led to the most accurate model with F1 score of 75.2% and accuracy of 90.7% compared to F1 score of 90.8% achieved by Mazajak CBOW for the same architecture but with lower accuracy of 70.89%. Our results also show that the performance of the best of the traditional classifier we trained is comparable to the deep learning methods on the first dataset, but significantly worse on the second dataset.

Le Bon’s crowd psychology and post-truth

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Dusko Prelevic
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Crowd Psychology ◽  
Philosophical Community

The phenomenon of post-truth, in which truth (or facts or the best scientific evidence) is brushed aside in public debates, has recently caught the eye of many philosophers, who typically see it as a threat to deliberative democracy. In this paper, it is argued that Gustave Le Bon?s remarks on crowd psychology, which had been very popular in past (and brushed aside later on), might be relevant for a better understanding of psychological mechanisms that lead to post-truth. According to Le Bon, crowds are often irrational, whereas those who try to convince them to do something should use specific techniques of persuasion, such as affirmation, repetition, contagion and prestige, of which the last one can be undermined either by fiasco (the fastest way), or by critique (a bit slower, but nonetheless effective way). It is the age of posttruth that goes towards the neutralization of any critique (Le Bon himself considered such neutralization devastating for democratic societies), which has been, according to some authors, affected to a great extent by technological innovations in media, such as social media that some authors consider anti-social due to their negative impact on society. I argue that Le Bon?s insights might be useful to members of scientific and philosophical community in their attempts to eliminate the spreading of quasi-scientific views in public discourse.

Between Global and Local Contexts: The Seoul Linguistic Landscape

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kapitolina Fedorova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
South Korea ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Landscape ◽  
Urban Contexts ◽  
Historical Sites ◽  
The One ◽  
Global And Local

Multilingualism in urban spaces is mainly studied as an oral practice. Nevertheless, linguistic landscape studies can serve as a good explorative method for studying multilingualism in written practices. Moreover, resent research on linguistic landscapes (Blommaert 2013; Shohamy et. al. 2010; Backhaus 2006) have shed some light on the power relations between different ethnic groups in urban public space. Multilingual practices exist in a certain ideological context, and not only official language policy but speaker linguistic stereotypes and attitudes can influence and modify those practices. Historically, South Korea tended to be oriented towards monolingualism; one nation-one people-one language ideology was domineering public discourse. However, globalization and recent increase in migration resulted in gradual changes in attitudes towards multilingualism (Lo and Kim 2012). The linguistic landscapes of Seoul, on the one hand, reflect these changes, and However, they demonstrates pragmatic inequality of languages other than South Korean in public use. This inequality, though, is represented differently in certain spatial urban contexts. The proposed paper aims at analyzing data on linguistic landscapes of Seoul, South Korea ,with the focus on different contexts of language use and different sets of norms and ideological constructs underlying particular linguistic choices. In my presentation I will examine data from three urban contexts: ‘general’ (typical for most public spaces); ‘foreign-oriented’ (seen in tourist oriented locations such as airport, expensive hotels, or popular historical sites, which dominates the Itaewon district); and ‘ethnic-oriented’ (specific for spaces created by and for ethnic minority groups, such as Mongolian / Central Asian / Russian districts near the Dongdaemun History and Culture Park station). I will show that foreign languages used in public written communication are embedded into different frameworks in these three urban contexts, and that the patterns of their use vary from pragmatically oriented ones to predominately symbolic ones, with English functioning as a substitution for other foreign languages, as an emblem of ‘foreignness.’

Mental Health Ontologies

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janna Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Public Health Challenges ◽  
Health Related ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Way

Mental health presents one of the defining public health challenges of our time. Proponents of different conceptions of what mental illness is wage war for the hearts and minds of patients, practitioners, policy-makers, and the public. Debate and fragmentation around the nature of the entities that feature in the mental health domain divide resources and reduce progress. The way mental health is publicly discussed in the media has tangible effects, in terms of stigma, access to healthcare and resources, and private expectations of recovery. This book explores in detail the sorts of statements that are made about mental health in the media and public reporting of scientific research, grounding them in the wider context of the theoretical frameworks, assumptions and metaphors that they draw from. The author shows how a holistic understanding of the way that different aspects of mental illness are interrelated can be developed from evidence-based interpretation of the latest research findings. She offers some ideas about corrective, integrative approaches to discussing mental health-related matters publicly that may reduce the opposition between conceptualisations while still aiming to reduce stigma, shame and blame. In particular, she emphasises that discourse in the media needs to be anchored to an overview of all the research results across the field and argues that this could be achieved using new technological infrastructures. The author provides an integrative account of what mental health is, together with an improved understanding of the factors driving the persistence of oppositional accounts in the public discourse. The book will be of benefit to researchers, practitioners and students in the domain of mental health.

The Apocalyptic Hijab: Emirati Mediations of Pious Fashion and Conflict Talk

Hawwa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-27
Author(s):  
Ahmed Yaqoub AlMaazmi
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
Multimodal Analysis ◽  
Gendered Identities ◽  
Conflict Talk ◽  
Verbal Attack ◽  
Cultural Expressions ◽  
Sociocultural Values

Abstract This article examines Emirati public discourse on, and imagination of, gendered pious fashion and conflict talk as animated in the sitcom Shaabiat Al-Cartoon (SAC) and other connected cultural expressions. Through a multimodal analysis, it contributes to discussions of the politics of piety by analyzing the strategic illustration of the UAE’s female fashion sense and use of the linguistic features that move verbal dueling to verbal attack. In this prefabricated orality, the article outlines linguistic forms in mediating gendered conflict talk and animating pious fashion. The paper further argues that a multimodal social semiotic performance that is based on language and apparel can produce powerful effects on the co-production of gendered identities. Additionally, it demonstrates through this analysis how the producers of an episode of SAC, through the use of semiotic cues, attempt to reflect and shape Emirati sociocultural values and idioms on pious gendered clothing and perceptions of religiosity and modernity.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

scholarly journals Lifestyle Behaviors and Mental Health of American Adults

2007 ◽  
Vol 100 (1) ◽  
pp. 294-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth H. Chaney ◽  
J. Don Chaney ◽  
Min Qi Wang ◽  
James M. Eddy
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Healthy Lifestyle ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Poor Mental Health ◽  
Behavioral Risk ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Unhealthy Lifestyle ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Health Related

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that individuals reporting healthy lifestyle behaviors would also report better self-rated mental health. Logistic regression analyses were conducted utilizing SUDAAN on the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey data set. This descriptive analysis suggests that persons reporting poor mental health were more likely to report unhealthy lifestyle behaviors. This set of findings encourages careful design of experimental studies of empirically based associations of mental health and life style, using psychometrically sound measures. Then public health programs focused on change of health-related behaviors might be more suitably devised.

scholarly journals Czech households’ income conditions according to the EU SILC statistics

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladislav Stejskal ◽  
Jana Pustinová ◽  
Jana Stávková
Keyword(s):  
Social System ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Income Level ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Data Usage ◽  
The Social ◽  
Quantitative Indicators ◽  
The Eu

Article is devoted to evaluation of the Czech population’s income situation according to the inquiry realized within the frame of the Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) project. This was carried out by the Czech Statistical Office in the year 2005. Selected introductive analyses are presented with the view of pointing at the primary data usage possibilities. Main aim of the paper is to explicate basic quantitative indicators of Czech households’ income situation in general, then in division according to social groups and regional belonging. Consequent aim encompasses the identification and analysis of the income unevenness measure by the help of alternative methodological approach. The essential findings and income characteristics are introduced, including recomputation to the physical and so-called standardized member. In compliance with the predefined threshold the households endangered with the insufficient income level are identified. Insufficient income level means that household earnings cannot cover standard living costs. This part is followed by the brief statistical analysis of the data set of this group of households and the reference to other studies which are currently being pursued. Conclusion comprehends the spectrum of processes and analyses that could follow, or are already worked out, in concurrence with the existing findings. First of these, for example, is the income situation evaluation of seniors involved in the enquiry. Reason is that this segment is traditionally perceived as economically weak and more or less dependent on the social system settings.

scholarly journals Informação, Publicidade, Propaganda: Correspondentes estrangeiros, agências noticiosas e a “Grande Guerra de palavras” da primeira metade do século XX

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 11-31
Author(s):  
Fernando Clara
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Foreign Correspondents ◽  
Decisive Importance ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
News Agencies ◽  
The Great War ◽  
Political Scene

The essay takes as a starting point Goebbels’ speech delivered at the closing session of the Continental Advertising Congress, held in Vienna in June 1938, and explores the transformations that the communicational public space of the first half of the twentieth century underwent following the two world conflicts that erupted then. In the first part, the essay addresses the progressive hybridisation of public discourse at the time, the increasing blurring of information, advertising and propaganda, and the rapid acceleration of the international circulation of communication during the period. In this context, special attention is paid to actors who, though not new to the international political scene – such as foreign correspondents and news agencies –, gained a new and decisive importance throughout the period in question. The second part analyses two case studies involving these actors and their power on the international political scene during World War II. Geographically, the two case studies are centred around an axis that is usually considered peripheral to the war – neutral Portugal – but which appears central and, in a way, paradigmatic to the “Great War of Words” that was also being fought in the international public space.

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