Methods and Instruments in the Study of Meaning-Making

Description

This volume develops a theoretical framework for the modelling of meaning-making and cultural processes as crucial to the scientific study of contemporary complex societies. It focuses on the methodological and empirical aspects of the analysis of culture and its dynamics that could be applied to policymaking and to the understanding of social phenomena. It covers culture-based segmentation, ad hoc survey instruments like the VOC and PROSERV questionnaires, discourse flow analysis, the Homogenization of Classification Functions Measurement, and others. It also presents a detailed discussion of the methodology of cultural analysis in contexts of health and education. The volume showcases a top-down approach by including quantitative methods and/or automatized or semi-automatized procedures, and at the same time supports a hermeneutic, bottom-up, abductive approach, focused on the situated dynamics of meaning-making. It provides insights from cultural studies, social statistics, social policy, and research methodology in the social sciences. This is a useful resource for academics involved in studying cultural dynamics and for policy-oriented researchers and decision-makers who are interested in cultural dimensions of the design, implementation and reception of public policies.  Introduction This Volume References Contents About the Editors Part I: Framework Chapter 1: The Analysis of Meaning 1.1 The Meaning of Meaning 1.1.1 The Triadicity of Meaning 1.1.2 The Reversal Between Meaning and Sense-Making 1.1.3 The Pre-Reflexivity of Meaning 1.1.4 Significance In Absentia (SIA) 1.1.5 Performativity of Meaning 1.1.6 Performativity of the Meaning and Stability of the Social Group 1.1.7 Individual and Social Sense-Making 1.1.8 Synthesis 1.2 The Investigation of Meaning: Foci and Levels of Analysis 1.2.1 Foci of Analysis 1.2.1.1 Dynamics 1.2.1.2 Structure 1.2.1.3 Content 1.2.2 Levels of Analysis 1.2.2.1 Implications 1.2.2.2 Hierarchy of Meanings 1.2.3 Conclusive Remarks 1.3 Analytic Approaches 1.4 The Epistemic Functions of the Analysis 1.4.1 Meaning as Explanandum, Meaning as Explanans 1.4.2 Meaning and Social Environment 1.5 Conclusion References Part II: Strategies of Analysis Chapter 2: The Challenges of Cultural Segmentation: New Approaches from Computational Social Science 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Model-Based Recursive Partitioning 2.2.1 Technical Details 2.3 Relational Class Analysis and Correlation Class Analysis 2.4 Implicit Association Test and Concept Association Test 2.4.1 Concept Association Task 2.5 Conclusions References Chapter 3: The Dimensionality of Sense-Making 3.1 The Meaning of Dimensionality 3.2 The Dimensionality of Meaning 3.3 Dimensionality and Language 3.3.1 Meaning Between Words 3.3.2 Development of Language 3.4 Dimensionality as a Methodological Framework 3.4.1 Homogenization of Classification Functions Measurement (HOCFUN): A Method for Measuring the Salience of Emotional Arousa... 3.4.1.1 Theoretical Framework 3.4.1.2 Operational Premise 3.4.1.3 Method 3.4.1.4 Results and Discussion 3.4.2 The Discursive Dynamic of Sense-making 3.4.2.1 Theoretical Framework 3.4.2.2 Operational Premise 3.4.2.3 Method 3.4.2.4 Results and Discussions 3.4.3 Affective Saturation Index: A Lexical Measure of Affect 3.4.3.1 Theoretical Framework 3.4.3.2 Operational Premise 3.4.3.3 Method 3.4.3.4 Results and Discussions 3.4.4 The Phase Space of Meaning Model of Psychopathology: A Computer Simulation Modeling Study 3.4.4.1 Theoretical Framework 3.4.4.2 Operational Premise 3.4.4.3 Method 3.4.4.4 Results and Discussion 3.5 Conclusion References Part III: Textual Meanings Chapter 4: The Themes of Texts: Automatic Co-occurrence Analysis for Semantic Mapping (ACASM) 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Theoretical Framework 4.3 ACASM Procedure 4.3.1 Stage 1. Construction of the Digital Representation of the Corpus 4.3.1.1 Step 1: Text Segmentation 4.3.1.2 Step 2: Lemmatization 4.3.1.3 Step 3. Selection of the Lemmas in Analysis 4.3.1.4 Step 4: Construction of the Matrix 4.3.2 Stage 2. Multidimensional Analysis 4.3.2.1 Step 5. Lexical Correspondence Analysis. The Map of the Semantic Structure 4.3.2.2 Step 6: Cluster Analysis. The Identification of Themes 4.4 Reliability and Validity of ACASM 4.5 ACASM Applications 4.6 Conclusions Annex References Chapter 5: The Analysis of Sensemaking Dynamics in Communicative Contexts: The Discourse Flow Analysis (DFA) 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Discourse Flow Analysis: Theoretical Background 5.2.1 Meaning and Sensemaking 5.2.2 Discursive Dynamics of Sensemaking 5.3 Discourse Flow Analysis: Procedure of Analysis 5.3.1 Content Analysis 5.3.2 Sequential Analysis 5.3.3 Structural, Functional, and Dynamic Analysis 5.4 Discourse Flow Analysis: Empirical Review 5.5 Conclusions and Future Directions References Part IV: Domain Meanings Chapter 6: A Tool to Analyze the Cultural Milieu: View of Context (VOC) 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Framework. The Affective Grounds of Sensemaking 6.2.1 Symbolic Universes 6.2.2 Lines of Semiotic Force 6.3 The Questionnaire 6.3.1 Item Construction 6.3.2 Data Analysis 6.3.3 VOC Construct Validity. A Study 6.3.4 The Idiographic Nature of the Instrument 6.4 VOC Applications 6.4.1 The Map of the Cultural Milieus of European Societies 6.4.2 The Influence of Symbolic Universes 6.4.2.1 Self-Representation and Attitudes 6.4.2.2 Voting Behavior 6.4.2.3 Vaccination 6.4.3 Stability and Change of Symbolic Universes Over Time 6.5 Conclusion References Chapter 7: The Inner Side of Experience: The Meaning Behind Customer Satisfaction 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The Prosumership Service Quality Model (PROSERV) 7.2.1 EXPERIENCE 7.2.2 VALUE 7.2.3 The PROSERV Questionnaire (PROSERV-Q) 7.3 Conclusions References Chapter 8: Images of the Patient-Physician Relationship Questionnaire (IPPRQ): An Instrument for Analyzing the Way Patients Ma... 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Scenario 8.3 Framework 8.4 The Images of the Patient-Physician Relationship Questionnaire (IPPRQ) 8.4.1 The Detection of the Images of the PPR 8.5 Initial Evidence in Support of the Validity of the IPPRQ 8.5.1 Images of the PPR and Compliance 8.5.2 Stability of the Representations Detected Through the IPPRQ 8.5.2.1 Method 8.5.2.2 Results 8.5.2.3 Discussion 8.6 Conclusion References Appendix. Images of the Patient-Physician Relationship Questionnaire (IPPRQ)