Invited Talk: 'Big data pragmatics!', or, 'Putting the ACL in computational social science', or, if you think these title alternatives could turn people on, turn people off, or otherwise have an effect, this talk might be for you

摘要

What effect does language have on people? You might say in response, "Who are you to discuss this problem?" and you would be right to do so; this is a Major Question that science has been tackling for many years. But as a field, I think natural language processing and computational linguistics have much to contribute to the conversation, and I hope to encourage the community to further address these issues. This talk will focus on the effect of phrasing, emphasizing aspects that go beyond just the selection of one particular word over another. The issues we'll consider include: Does the way in which something is worded in and of itself have an effect on whether it is remembered or attracts attention, beyond its content or context? Can we characterize how different sides in a debate frame their arguments, in a way that goes beyond specific lexical choice (e.g., "pro-choice" vs. "pro-life")? The settings we'll explore range from movie quotes that achieve cultural prominence; to posts on Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, and the arXiv; to framing in public discourse on the inclusion of genetically-modified organisms in food.