Quantum in the media: A content analysis of frames in Dutch newspapers

Quantum technology is expected to have an impact on society. Scientists warn against the use of certain frames because they may create barriers to effective science communication. We studied 385 Dutch newspaper articles for the use of these frames. Newspapers commonly explained quantum concepts when mentioning quantum technology. They also regularly framed quantum technology as beneficial and enigmatic, often in prominent positions of the articles. The economic development/competitiveness frame, the social progress frame and the risk frame were less common. Although these frames are only potential barriers, we encourage journalists to weigh them when communicating about quantum technology.Comment: 33 pages, 6 figure

Is everything quantum spooky and weird? An exploration of popular communication about quantum science and technology in TEDx talks

Researchers point to four potential issues related to the popularisation of quantum science and technology. These include a lack of explaining underlying quantum concepts of quantum 2.0 technology, framing quantum science and technology as spooky and enigmatic, framing quantum technology narrowly in terms of public good and having a strong focus on quantum computing. To date, no research has yet assessed whether these potential issues are actually present in popular communication about quantum science. In this content analysis, we have examined the presence of these potential issues in 501 TEDx talks with quantum science and technology content. Results show that while most experts (70%) explained at least one underlying quantum concept (superposition, entanglement or contextuality) of quantum 2.0 technology, only 28% of the non-experts did so. Secondly, the spooky/enigmatic frame was present in about a quarter of the talks. Thirdly, a narrow public good frame was found, predominantly by highlighting the benefits of quantum science and technology (found in over 6 times more talks than risks). Finally, the main focus was on quantum computing at the expense of other quantum technologies. In conclusion, the proposed frames are indeed found in TEDx talks, there is indeed a focus on quantum computing, but at least experts explain underlying quantum concepts often.Comment: 30 pages, 7 figure

MSDIP: A method for coding source domains in metaphor analysis

This is the OSF file for the paper 'MSDIP: A method for coding source domains in metaphor analysis', containing the datasets, syntax, and output for the reliability analyses and small-scale analysis reported in the paper

The role of co-text in the analysis of potentially deliberate metaphor in discourse

This is the OSF file for the paper 'The role of co-text in the analysis of potentially deliberate metaphor in discourse', containing the annotated corpus for potentially deliberate metaphor

When do natural language metaphors influence reasoning? A follow-up study to Thibodeau and Boroditsky (2013).

In this article, we offer a critical view of Thibodeau and Boroditsky who report an effect of metaphorical framing on readers' preference for political measures after exposure to a short text on the increase of crime in a fictitious town: when crime was metaphorically presented as a beast, readers became more enforcement-oriented than when crime was metaphorically framed as a virus. We argue that the design of the study has left room for alternative explanations. We report four experiments comprising a follow-up study, remedying several shortcomings in the original design while collecting more encompassing sets of data. Our experiments include three additions to the original studies: (1) a non-metaphorical control condition, which is contrasted to the two metaphorical framing conditions used by Thibodeau and Boroditsky, (2) text versions that do not have the other, potentially supporting metaphors of the original stimulus texts, (3) a pre-exposure measure of political preference (Experiments 1-2). We do not find a metaphorical framing effect but instead show that there is another process at play across the board which presumably has to do with simple exposure to textual information. Reading about crime increases people's preference for enforcement irrespective of metaphorical frame or metaphorical support of the frame. These findings suggest the existence of boundary conditions under which metaphors can have differential effects on reasoning. Thus, our four experiments provide converging evidence raising questions about when metaphors do and do not influence reasoning

How polysemy affects concreteness ratings: The case of metaphor

Concreteness ratings are frequently used in a variety of disciplines to operationalize differences between concrete and abstract words and concepts. However, most ratings studies present items in isolation, thereby overlooking the potential polysemy of words. Consequently, ratings for polysemous words may be conflated, causing a threat to the validity of concreteness-ratings studies. This is particularly relevant to metaphorical words, which typically describe something abstract in terms of something more concrete. To investigate whether perceived concreteness ratings differ for metaphorical versus non-metaphorical word meanings, we obtained concreteness ratings for 96 English nouns from 230 participants. Results show that nouns are perceived as less concrete when a metaphorical (versus non-metaphorical) meaning is triggered. We thus recommend taking metaphoricity into account in future concreteness-ratings studies to further improve the quality and reliability of such studies, as well as the consistency of the empirical studies that rely on these ratings

Metaphor in communication:The distribution of potentially deliberate metaphor across register and word class

Item does not contain fulltextThere is renewed interest in the special role that metaphor can have in its communicative status as metaphor between language users. This paper investigates the occurrence of such deliberate metaphors in comparison with non-deliberate metaphors. To this end, a corpus of 24,762 metaphors was analysed for the presence of potentially deliberate (versus non-deliberate) metaphor use across registers and word classes. Results show that 4.36% of metaphors in the corpus are identified as potentially deliberate metaphors. News and fiction contain significantly more potentially deliberate metaphors, while academic texts and conversations exhibit significantly fewer potentially deliberate metaphors than expected. Moreover, nouns and adjectives are used relatively more frequently as potentially deliberate metaphors, while adverbs, verbs, and prepositions are used relatively less frequently as potentially deliberate metaphors. These results can be explained by referring to the overall communicative properties of the registers concerned, as well as to the role of the different word classes in those registers.26 p

Metaphor identification in multiple languages: MIPVU around the world Converging evidence in language and communication research ;, v. 22./ edited by Susan Nacey, Aletta G. Dorst, Tina Krennmayr, W. Gudrun Reijnierse.

Includes bibliographical references and index."This volume explores linguistic metaphor identification in a wide variety of languages and language families. The book is an essential read for anyone interested in researching language and metaphor, from students to experienced scholars. Its primary goals are to discuss the challenges involved in applying the Metaphor Identification Procedure Vrije Universiteit (MIPVU) to a range of languages across the globe, and to offer theoretically grounded advice and guidelines enabling researchers to identify metaphors in multiple languages in a valid and replicable way. The volume is intended as a practical guidebook that identifies and discusses procedural challenges of metaphor identification across languages, thus better enabling researchers to reliably identify metaphor in a multitude of languages. Although able to be read independently, this volume - written by metaphor researchers from around the world - is the ideal companion volume for the 2010 Benjamins book A method for linguistic metaphor identification: from MIP to MIPVU"--1 online resource