Direct Negative Opinions in Online Discussions

In this paper we investigate the impact of antagonism in online discussions. We define antagonism as a new class of textual opinions - direct sentiment towards the authors of previous comments. We detect the negative sentiment using aspect-based opinion mining techniques. We create a model of human behavior in online communities, based on the network topology and on the communication content. The model contains seven hypotheses, which validate two intuitions. The first intuition is that the content of the messages exchanged in an online community can separate good and insightful contributions from the rest. The second intuition is that there is a delay until the network stabilizes and until standard measures, such as betweenness centrality, can be used accurately. Taken together, these intuitions are a solid case for using the content of the communication along with network measures. We show that the sentiment within the messages, especially antagonism, can significantly alter the community perception. We use real world data, taken from the Slashdot1 discussion forum to validate our model. All the findings are accompanied by extremely significant t-test p-values

Estimating the extent of CITES noncompliance among traders and end-consumers; Lessons from the global orchid trade

The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) regulates trade in over 35,000 species, over 70% of which are orchids. To investigate rule-breaking behavior among traders and buyers in a specific international wildlife trading community, we used direct questions (DQs) and the unmatched count technique (UCT) to survey the orchid growing community about CITES compliance and their knowledge and opinions of the rules. In DQ, 9.9% had smuggled, 4.8% had laundered, and 10.8% had been sent orchids from online purchases without paperwork; UCT estimates did not differ significantly. Growers with greater knowledge of CITES rules were more likely to break them, and there were widespread negative views of CITES among respondents. We recommend targeted enforcement focusing on both online trade and at the point of import, coupled with efforts to encourage traders and end-consumers to engage with discussions on CITES rule implementation

On-line case discussion assessment in Ultrasound: The effect on student centred and inter-professional learning

In 2009 an asynchronous on-line case discussion assessment was introduced, to replace an existing traditional case-study assessment, within the Medical Ultrasound Programmes at City University London, to help extend collaborative, interprofessional student-led learning skills. Two clinical modules were used to develop the on-line learning method with associated assessments. Students selected and led a clinical case from their department, uploaded anonymised images and case details with questions, to encourage interaction from other colleagues. Thirty students participated in the on-line case discussions. The assessment was evaluated via informal feedback, end of module feedback and an on-line questionnaire. Some students completed two modules, using the on-line discussion, others were involved in only one module, of which 21 out of 26 students completed end of module feedback for the 1st module and 18 out of 20 students completed feedback from the 2nd module. Twelve students out of 30 completed the on-line questionnaire. Feedback suggested that the on-line case discussions were a good learning tool, providing a wide range of cases for students to participate in or read and learn from each other. All students found the cases interesting, engaging and useful, but time consuming. Despite the small numbers involved, useful feedback was provided to assist further development of the assessment, particularly in relation to the number of cases being assessed and length of availability. On-line case discussions are an innovative, engaging method to encourage self directed, collaborative learning which could be utilised in the health care setting to share interesting cases, promote inter-professional and self-directed learning

Female Gamers:

International evidence indicates that the number of females involved in video-gaming is increasing. Within the context of this increase, there is a need to explore the experiences of this group of gamers in detail. This study explored female experiences of playing video-games. Data were collected from an online discussion forum dedicated to video-gaming; the sample comprised of posts drawn from 409 discussion threads. Thematic analysis of the discussions suggests that gaming is a key element of the female gamers’ identity, with females discussing the integration of gaming into their daily lives on a number of different levels. Similar to previous research, social elements of gaming is highlighted with simultaneous difficulties with online interaction emphasised. These themes are discussed in relation to relevant research in the area, along with recommendations for future research and consideration of possible explanations for the themes observed

Citizens’ Consultations on Europe: French Citizens’ Panel October 25 to 27, 2018, Paris Review report

The following document analyses the French Citizens’ Panel, held in the context of Citizens’ Consultations on Europe. The report first presents the project, by stressing the method used to select the participants, then it takes into account the feedback of the participants as part of the evaluation and finally it gives some guidelines to think about the lessons to be learnt from this first French Citizens’ Panel

Let Me Give You My Card : A Study of Evolving Business Protocols in the Information Age

Non peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Determining citizens’ opinions about stories in the news media: analysing Google, Facebook and Twitter

We describe a method whereby a governmental policy maker can discover citizens’ reaction to news stories. This is particularly relevant in the political world, where governments’ policy statements are reported by the news media and discussed by citizens. The work here addresses two main questions: whereabouts are citizens discussing a news story, and what are they saying? Our strategy to answer the first question is to find news articles pertaining to the policy statements, then perform internet searches for references to the news articles’ headlines and URLs. We have created a software tool that schedules repeating Google searches for the news articles and collects the results in a database, enabling the user to aggregate and analyse them to produce ranked tables of sites that reference the news articles. Using data mining techniques we can analyse data so that resultant ranking reflects an overall aggregate score, taking into account multiple datasets, and this shows the most relevant places on the internet where the story is discussed. To answer the second question, we introduce the WeGov toolbox as a tool for analysing citizens’ comments and behaviour pertaining to news stories. We first use the tool for identifying social network discussions, using different strategies for Facebook and Twitter. We apply different analysis components to analyse the data to distil the essence of the social network users’ comments, to determine influential users and identify important comments

Blended learning for project management

Students studying at postgraduate level should engage in learning on higher cognitive levels such as evaluation and creation. The notion of effective learning at this level is characterised by the student’s ability to use acquired knowledge and principles to solve complex problems. Learning theories advocate maximising student engagement with the learning resources in order to facilitate such effective learning. This can be achieved by addressing the following factors in curriculum design: accessibility, variety, formative assessment and the development of learning communities. This paper presents work done on a postgraduate level Project Management course to maximise the factors mentioned above, for example, with the introduction of automatically marked quizzes and the re-structuring of the course content. The content and delivery of the course was changed from weekly lectures and tutorial sessions (old system) to a web-based blended learning system (new system). Evaluation of the old and new systems was undertaken using questionnaires. The student evaluation suggests that the new system led to more effective learning. It is suggested that effective learning can be facilitated by a blended learning system