Building the Bridge: Topic Modeling for Comparative Research

IF 6.3 1区文学 Q1 COMMUNICATION

Communication Methods and Measures Pub Date : 2021-09-07 DOI:10.1080/19312458.2021.1965973

F. Lind, Jakob-Moritz Eberl, Olga Eisele, Tobias Heidenreich, Sebastian Galyga, H. Boomgaarden

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引用次数: 14

Abstract

ABSTRACT In communication research, topic modeling is primarily used for discovering systematic patterns in monolingual text corpora. To advance the usage, we provide an overview of recently presented strategies to extract topics from multilingual text collections for the purpose of comparative research. Moreover, we discuss, demonstrate, and facilitate the usability of the “Polylingual Topic Model” (PLTM) for such analyses. The appeal of this model is that it derives lists of related clustered words in different languages with little reliance on translation or multilingual dictionaries and without the need for manual post-hoc matching of topics. PLTM bridges the gap between languages by making use of document connections in training documents. As these training documents are the crucial resource for the model, we compare model evaluation metrics for different strategies to build training documents. By discussing the advantages and limitations of the different strategies in respect to different scenarios, our study contributes to the methodological discussion on automated content analysis of multilingual text corpora.

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搭建桥梁：比较研究的主题建模

摘要在交际研究中，话题建模主要用于发现单语文本语料库中的系统模式。为了提高使用率，我们概述了最近提出的从多语言文本集中提取主题的策略，以进行比较研究。此外，我们还讨论、演示并促进了“多语言主题模型”（PLTM）用于此类分析的可用性。该模型的吸引力在于，它导出了不同语言的相关聚类词列表，几乎不依赖翻译或多语言词典，也不需要手动的主题事后匹配。PLTM通过在培训文档中使用文档连接来弥合语言之间的差距。由于这些培训文档是模型的关键资源，我们比较了构建培训文档的不同策略的模型评估指标。通过讨论不同策略在不同场景下的优势和局限性，我们的研究有助于多语言文本语料库自动内容分析的方法论讨论。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Communication Methods and Measures COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

21.10

自引率

1.80%

发文量

期刊介绍： Communication Methods and Measures aims to achieve several goals in the field of communication research. Firstly, it aims to bring attention to and showcase developments in both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to communication scholars. This journal serves as a platform for researchers across the field to discuss and disseminate methodological tools and approaches. Additionally, Communication Methods and Measures seeks to improve research design and analysis practices by offering suggestions for improvement. It aims to introduce new methods of measurement that are valuable to communication scientists or enhance existing methods. The journal encourages submissions that focus on methods for enhancing research design and theory testing, employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Furthermore, the journal is open to articles devoted to exploring the epistemological aspects relevant to communication research methodologies. It welcomes well-written manuscripts that demonstrate the use of methods and articles that highlight the advantages of lesser-known or newer methods over those traditionally used in communication. In summary, Communication Methods and Measures strives to advance the field of communication research by showcasing and discussing innovative methodologies, improving research practices, and introducing new measurement methods.