Concerns And Ideas About The Developing English Law Of Privacy (And How Knowledge Of Foreign Law Might Be Of Help)

La

Chapter 21 From Frequency Counts to Contextualized Word Embeddings

Text, the written representation of human thought and communication in natural language, has been a major source of data for social science research since its early beginnings. While quantitative approaches seek to make certain contents measurable, for example through word counts or reliable categorization (coding) of longer text sequences, qualitative social researchers put more emphasis on systematic ways to generate a deep understanding of social phenomena from text. For the latter, several qualitative research methods such as qualitative content analysis (Mayring, 2010), grounded theory methodology (Glaser & Strauss, 2005), and (critical) discourse analysis (Foucault, 1982) have been developed. Although their methodological foundations differ widely, both currents of empirical research need to rely to some extent on the interpretation of text data against the background of its context. At the latest with the global expansion of the internet in the digital era and the emergence of social networks, the huge mass of text data poses a significant problem to empirical research relying on human interpretation. For their studies, social scientists have access to newspaper texts representing public media discourse, web documents from companies, parties, or NGO websites, political documents from legislative processes such as parliamentary protocols, bills and corresponding press releases, and for some years now micro-posts and user comments from social media. Computational support is inevitable even to process samples of such document volumes that could easily comprise millions of documents

Die unterschiedlichen Lebenswirklichkeiten der in Deutschland lebenden türkischen Männer und Frauen der 2. Generation

Resultierend aus dem Wirtschaftwunder nach dem 2. Weltkrieg, hat sich in den frühen sechziger Jahren in der BRD angedeutet, dass die verfügbaren einheimischen Arbeitskräfte nicht ausreichten, die vorhandenen freien Arbeitsplätze auf dem deutschen Arbeitsmarkt zu besetzen (vgl. Mertens, 1977:13ff.). Aufgrund dieses Mangels an Arbeitskräften wurde, neben Verträgen mit zahlreichen anderen Staaten, ein Anwerbeabkommen mit der Türkei geschlossen. Darauf folgend reisten 1961 die ersten türkischen „Gastarbeiter“ in die BRD ein, mit der Vorstellung, sich nur für eine begrenzte Zeit in der BRD aufzuhalten (vgl. Mehrländer, 1986:53). Obwohl eine Mehrzahl der ersten Arbeitskräfte nach einigen Jahren wieder in ihr Heimatland zurückkehrte, hat sich ein Großteil der türkischen Männer und Frauen der ersten Generation für einen weiteren Aufenthalt in Deutschland entschieden (vgl. Mehrländer, 1986:55ff.). Somit war die erste Generation ausschlaggebend für die Lebenswirklichkeiten ihrer mit eingereisten oder in Deutschland geborenen Kinder, die heute die türkischen Männer und Frauen der zweiten Generation ausmachen

Contining a Corona Misinfeelernic and Covidiocy: Political Talk Shows on German Public-Service IV

Misinformation surrounding the pandemic has spread rapidly in this age of digital virality. We argue that the factual and science-based discussion of the corona crisis on Anne Will and Maybrit Illner, two political talk shows on German public-service television, has contributed to containing both a potential misinfodemic and the virus itself. We use thematic analysis to interpret the data from ten shows in March at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in Germany. In our study, we examine the extent to which the talk shows rely on the expertise of scientists, particularly virologists, as they refer questions to the experts and discuss the coronavirus pandemic among the participants in an effort to debunk myths and to fight fake news

“You’ve been living here for as long as you can remember”: trauma in OMORI's environmental design

Developed by Omocat and released in December 2020, OMORI is a surreal psychological horror role-playing game. The game follows the titular protagonist Omori as it examines such sensitive topics as suicide, grief, death, and depression. Such traumatic events are triggered in several planes of existence—White Space, Headspace, and Black Space—leading to anxiety, regression, and resurfacing trauma. In our article, we examine such representations of trauma with particular attention to the role of environmental design. The planes represent different approaches to memory, trauma, and repression, which Omori and the player navigate in non-linear, recursive paths. We analyze how each space seeks to illuminate and explore aspects of trauma in its respective atmosphere. Through environmental design, OMORI provides players with three distinct experiences with escapism and trauma that are representative of the experiences of trauma victims, ultimately elucidating the psychological phenomenon on a larger scale to de-stigmatize trauma

Gendered self-representation and empowerment on social media in the United Arab Emirates

Social networking sites (SNSs) provide a set of affordances that allow young adults to represent various aspects of their gendered identities and construct their identity-related experiences. This paper adopts Goffman’s concepts in relation to social media and his dramaturgical theories of the self as a framework for the study of online self-presentation. The paper uses the Explanatory Sequential Mixed Method Design. The study conducted a quantitative survey of 110 college students followed by qualitative semi-structured interviews with a group of 30 students to examine how college students from four Emirati universities appropriate social media to engage in online self-representations of their gendered identities. The findings suggest that SNSs serve as a liberating force in a cultural context where traditional rules are changing and young adults are at the forefront of driving these changes

Digital Islam and Muslim Millennials: How Social Media Influencers Reimagine Religious Authority and Islamic Practices

Digital platforms have empowered individuals and communities to re-negotiate long-established notions of religion and authority. A new generation of social media influencers has recently emerged in the Muslim world. They are western-educated, unique storytellers, and savvy in digital media production. This raises new questions on the future of Islam in the context of emerging challenges, such as the openness of technology and the often-perceived closedness of religious and cultural systems within Muslim societies. This paper uses a multiple case research design to examine the roles of social media influencers in reimagining Islam and reshaping spiritual beliefs and religious practices among young people in the Gulf Region, the Arab world, and beyond. We used thematic analysis of the Instagram and YouTube content of four social media influencers in the Gulf Region: Salama Mohamed and Khalid Al Ameri from the United Arab Emirates, Ahmad Al-Shugairi from Saudi Arabia, and Omar Farooq from Bahrain. The study found that social media influencers are challenging traditional religious authorities as they reimagine Muslim identities based on a new global lifestyle

Algorithmen und militärische Führung: Die Rolle von Zukunftsvorstellungen

Die digitale Transformation ist in vollem Gange. Veränderungen, die mit der Digitalisierung einhergehen wirken sich auf Organisationen aus, denn Organisationen gestalten die Folgen der Digitalisierung und ihre Ausprägungen selbst mit. In diesem Beitrag betrachten wir Aspekte von Zukunftsvorstellungen über die Wirkungen digitaler Technologien, die in Organisationen zirkulieren. Zukunftsvorstellungen sind soziale Imaginationen und prägen dabei gesellschaftliche Annahmen und Einstellungen über die Digitalisierung. Dementsprechend gehen wir der Frage nach wie sich organisational respezifizierte Zukunftsvorstellungen auf die digitale Transformation der Bundeswehr, insbesondere bei der Nutzung datenintensiver Algorithmen auswirken; etwa indem sie die Einführung bestimmter Techniken unterstützen oder behindern. Zur Beantwortung der Frage nutzen wir empirisches Material aus dem dtec-Forschungsprojekt „Führungskulturen im digitalen Zeitalter – Der Fall der Bundeswehr“, insbesondere im Hinblick auf die militärische Führung

Heroes in Harm’s Way

This paper examines COVID-19 narratives of China as a form of soft power. The coronavirus pandemic and its handling have presented an image problem for China on the global stage. The country has struggled to control the narratives surrounding the pandemic. This article is interdisciplinary in nature with a focus on contemporary Chinese history, culture, and politics, as well as communication issues and narratives. It analyses non-fictional and fictional narratives as part of China’s COVID-19 diplomacy. Beyond documentaries, this paper examines the two docudramas Heroes in Harm’s Way 最美逆行者 (2020) and With You 在一起 (2020) and how these popular TV shows present the coronavirus crisis in China at the beginning of the pandemic. We argue that they provide positive narratives of the COVID-19 response that highlight people’s courage and sacrifice to inspire the Chinese population to stand together as a nation. The docudramas showcase everyday life during the lockdown in Wuhan over 76 days from the end of January 2020 to early April 2020. Nurses, doctors, and patients are represented as heroic characters who fight the pandemic together. Heroes in Harm’s Way and With You are testament of a united China broadcast both to domestic audiences and viewers abroad. The docudramas function as damage control to enhance China’s image in the world. This helps increase China’s soft power as the country presents itself as a capable force for good within its boundaries and beyond