A Critical Discourse Analysis: The Representation of Hillary Rodham Clinton and Women in the New York Times

This Critical Discourse Analysis investigates the representation of Hillary Rodham Clinton and women in the New York Times during the presidential candidacy campaigns 2008. First, relevant aspects of social practice in the United States of America are introduced. The concept of "women" in U.S. society, prevalent gender stereotypes, the public's perception of Rodham Clinton and leadership ideals are among the facets of social practice that are dealt with in the course of this essay. This is followed by a discussion of how aspects of social practice are drawn upon and utilised in the representation of Rodham Clinton and women by the New York Times. Excerpts of an in-depth linguistic analysis carried out on the article "Clinton's Message, and Moment, Won the Day", which was published in the New York Times on 10 January 2008, are used to exemplify how the Times' represents the candidate and women in general. Besides drawing conclusions with respect to which facets of social practice the New York Times draws upon in its representation of Rodham Clinton and women, this essay also attempts to give a short insight into how the newspaper's reporting, in turn, might affect social practice with regard to "women"

Content policies in Social Media Critical Discourse Studies: The invisible hand of social media providers?

This paper complements theoretical and methodological considerations regarding social media in critical discourse studies as it addresses social media content policies as a key contextual element. Specifically, this paper argues that - and why - the exploration of content policies and their enforcement is indispensable when approaching social media platforms and social media data in particular from a critical perspective. A number of researchers have already begun to identify contextual elements that require particular attention when viewing social media and social media data through a CDS lens. However, social media sites' content policies, as pervasive contextual element, have not received adequate research attention yet. Drawing on Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis (CMDA) and recent developments in Social Media CDS (SM-CDS), this paper first demonstrates the existing gap in research. Then, it contends that social media sites' content policies deserve more detailed attention in SM-CDS, argues why this is the case and elaborates on the different aspects of content policies and policy enforcement that require examination. After detailed theoretical discussion of this, empirical evidence to support this argument is presented in the form of a case study of Wikipedia and Wikipedia data

Debating the European Union transnationally:Wikipedians’ construction of the EU on a Wikipedia talk page (2001-2015)

This thesis deals with the construction of the European Union (EU) as negotiated among contributors to the English Wikipedia between 2001 and 2015. It focuses on the Talk Page (TP) which accompanies the Wikipedia article on the EU and provides a space for Wikipedia contributors to discuss controversial issues regarding the article. The EU has received considerable attention in Critical Discourse Studies (CDS), addressing e.g. questions regarding language policy and discourses surrounding topics connected to the EU (e.g. Muntigl, Weiss, & Wodak, 2000; Unger, Krzyżanowski, & Wodak, 2014; Wodak, 2007a). However, private individuals’ attempts to make sense of the EU when facing the task of defining it have hardly been touched upon. In this context, Wikipedia constitutes an ideal repository of data as it has recorded debates on the institution since 2001. Taking a corpus-assisted approach (cf. Baker, 2006), I examine how contributors from various backgrounds have grappled with their understanding of the EU. Additionally, this study explores aspects of Wikipedia since this collaboratively created encyclopaedia has received little research attention. Taking the EU on Wikipedia as a starting point, this thesis presents a foray into how Wikipedia can be approached from a CDS perspective. That is, on the one hand, it identifies central aspects of this website’s structure and addresses policies that guide Wikipedia operations and thus shape Wikipedia data. On the other hand, it examines the site’s societal impact/relevance and evaluates to what extent it can function as a transnational public sphere.Findings suggest that a substantial part of discussions amongst Wikipedians addresses the classification of the EU along the continuum between confederation and unified country, depending on different views concerning member states’ sovereignty. Wikipedia’s policies and the nature of the debates further suggest that the TP can, to some extent, serve as a transnational public sphere

Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Studies? Marrying Critical Discourse Studies and Corpus Linguistics: Über den Brückenschlag zwischen Kritischen Diskursstudien und Korpuslinguistik

Dieser Artikel behandelt die Verbindung der Kritischen Diskursstudien (KDS) und der Korpuslinguistik im Zuge eines Forschungsprojektes zu Repräsentation der EU auf den Diskussionsseiten der englischen Wikipedia. Hinsichtlich dieses Brückenschlags werden Synergieeffekte, aber auch potentielle Schwächen und damit verbundene Lösungsansätze aufgezeigt. Dabei wird u. a. dargelegt, wie korpuslinguistische Ansätze der Gefahr des cherry-picking entgegenwirken und die Kritischen Diskursstudien wiederum kritische Reflexion der traditionell quantitativen Korpuslinguistik fördern

Participation and deliberative discourse on social media – Wikipedia talk pages as transnational public spheres?

This paper focuses on the potential societal function of Wikipedia beyond serving as an encyclopedia. That is, it assesses both theoretically and empirically whether talk pages (TP) – Wikipedia discussion sites that accompany the encyclopedic entries and provide spaces for debates among Wikipedia editors – may function as transnational public spheres. Despite the increasing number of studies on citizen engagement and participation in the age of social media, Wikipedia as an example of the participatory internet has received little research attention in this regard. This study redresses this research gap in two steps. Drawing on Habermas’ concept of the public sphere and Fraser's and Eriksen's modifications thereof, Wikipedia's – specifically the TPs’ – modus operandi is explored to evaluate whether TPs may serve as spaces for transnational political opinion formation. This theoretical exploration is complemented with an empirical assessment of a TP dedicated to the EU. The case study addresses if/to what degree Wikipedia editors have appropriated the TP to function as a transnational public sphere. Findings indicate that Wikipedia TPs can – and do – serve as general transnational public spheres

“Rewarding Good Creators”: Corporate Social Media Discourse on Monetization Schemes for Content Creators

This discourse analytical article deals with the power relations between social media corporations and content creators in the context of monetization schemes of social media businesses, i.e., schemes that allow creators to monetize their social media content. Specifically, this study presents an analysis of discourse material pertaining to YouTube’s monetization scheme (the YouTube Partner Program [YPP]) to shed light on the broader point of how social media corporations position themselves in relation to creators who (seek to) earn money on social media. While some research on social media has focused on their potential to empower users/content creators, less optimistic scholars have addressed social media corporations generating massive profits by exploiting creators, for example, in the form of free digital labor. By comparison, there is a lack of research, especially empirical discourse analytical research, on creators’ paid digital labor and on how social media corporations conceptualize paid creators. This study redresses this gap regarding one of the oldest monetization schemes—the YPP. Using corpus linguistic tools to explore textual data from 46 YouTube sites detailing the YPP, this study homes in on references to content creators, YouTube, and how these players are connected to one another. The findings show that although the name YPP elicits the impression of cooperation on equal terms, YouTube represents itself as legislator, judge, and executive authority. This indicates that despite the ability of partnered content creators to share in the social media businesses’ profits, they do not inhabit a particularly empowered position

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia, and metabolic changes after 3 months of treatment with antipsychotics - results from a German observational study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This observational study explored the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in adult in- and outpatients with untreated or treated schizophrenia at baseline, and month-3 after initiation or switch of antipsychotic treatment.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>MetS-prevalence (AHA/NHLB-definition) was assessed and Clopper-Pearson 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Factors associated with MetS were explored through univariate and multivariate logistic regressions (both visits).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MetS-prevalence was 44.3% (CI 39.8;48.9) at baseline and 49.6% (CI 45.0;54.2) at month-3. Previously unmedicated patients showed the lowest baseline MetS-prevalence (24.7%, CI 18.3;32.1). MetS-prevalence was not significantly different, regardless if patients previously received typical or atypical antipsychotics. Increased MetS-risk was associated with somatic comorbidity and non-smoking at both visits, and with non-psychiatric co-medication, male sex, and increased C-reactive protein at month-3.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>At baseline, MetS was most prevalent in patients with previous antipsychotic medication. Limited metabolic changes were observed 3 months after switch/initiation of antipsychotic therapy.</p> <p>Trial Registration Number</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: n.a.</p

Developmental Regulation of Lck Targeting to the CD8 Coreceptor Controls Signaling in Naive and Memory T Cells

The question of whether enhanced memory T cell responses are simply due to an increased frequency of specific cells or also to an improved response at the single cell level is widely debated. In this study, we analyzed T cell receptor (TCR) transgenic memory T cells and bona fide memory T cells isolated from virally infected normal mice using the tetramer technology. We found that memory T cells are qualitatively different from naive T cells due to a developmentally regulated rearrangement of the topology of the signaling machinery. In naive cytotoxic T cells, only a few CD8 molecules are associated with Lck and the kinase is homogeneously distributed inside the cell. However, in vivo priming of naive T cells induces the targeting of Lck to the CD8 coreceptor in the cell membrane and the consequent organization of a more efficient TCR signaling machinery in effector and memory cells

IN VARIETATE CONCORDIA? WIKIPEDIA EDITOR DEBATES ABOUT EU CULTURE

This paper addresses how the Wikipedia community has debated the existence of an EU culture on a Wikipedia discussion site between 2001 and 2019. That is, a corpus of discussions among Wikipedia editors (‘Wikipedians’) was examined to shed light on how the Wikipedians involved argue for/against the idea that an overarching EU culture exists at present. This, combined with an examination of debates about concrete cultural elements associated with the EU, permits an insight into Wikipedians’ conception(s) of the union. Drawing on argumentation analysis shows that the data examined indicates that cultural commonality across EU member states is not necessarily ascribed to the EU but to their being European countries. Additionally, even Wikipedians who argue that an overarching EU culture exists do not necessarily actually subscribe to this view but argue for reference to cultural elements in the Wikipedia article on the EU in order to signal to Wikipedia readers that the EU is “more than a set of treaties”

Kaufentscheidungsverhalten bei Elektrofahrzeugen in Vorarlberg

Die Entwicklung von alternativen Antriebstechnologien wurde in den letzten Jahren stark vorangetrieben. Der aktuell am häufigsten verwendete alternative Antrieb ist der Elektromotor. Das Ziel diese Diplomarbeit ist es, eine Aussage darüber zu treffen welche Erfolgsfaktoren zu einer Kaufentscheidung eines Elektroautos beitragen. Der erste Teil der Arbeit umfasst eine allumfassende Aufarbeitung der Theorie zu Elektrofahrzeugen. Anschließend wurde anhand von bestehenden Studien von Statisa analysiert, wie sich die Akzeptanz und Einstellung zu Elektrofahrzeugen in Österreich verändert hat. Im weiteren Verlauf wurde eine Umfrage in Vorarlberg durchgeführt. In dieser Umfrage wurde ermittelt wie die derzeitige Akzeptanz und die Erfahrungen mit Elektroautos in Vorarlberg ist. Der letzte Abschnitt umfasst eine Analyse der Umfrage, inklusive einer Ausarbeitung von Empfehlungen, für mögliche Ansatzpunkte für Politik und Industrie, um die Kundenakzeptanz für Elektrofahrzeuge zu verbessern