Projects / Projekte

Tracking Meaning on the Surface: A Data-Driven Approach to Semantic Imprints of Texts

Perceptions of America after 9/11: A Case-Study
Tracking Semantics in the Web
Improving Methods of Automatic Text Analysis in Social Sciences
Texts have semantic imprints on their surfaces that can be read as indices for their pragmatic, social or cultural function. These imprints lie beyond traditional concepts of meaning and have so far neither been systematically identified nor analyzed. Using transformations in images of the U.S. since 2001 as a case study, this project will develop categories for the description of semantic imprints with a data-driven approach and integrate them into a model that allows an automatic semantic analysis of texts. In doing so, the project will explore possible applications of these models for the semantization of the internet and the methodology of social sciences and cultural studies.

Funded by the ‘Innovationsfonds FRONTIER’ at the University of Heidelberg.

Political Tracker: Bundestagswahl ‘09 – Eine Semantische Matrixanalyse

Wie unterscheiden sich SPD, LINKE und GRÜNE in ihrer Wortwahl? Wie nahe stehen sich CDU und GRÜNE aus sprachlicher Sicht? Wie unterscheidet sich die politische Rhetorik von Angela Merkel und Frank-Walter Steinmeier? Mit welchen Schlagwörtern werben die Parteien um Wähler? Hat Angela Merkel oder Frank-Walter Steinmeier das Fernsehduell gewonnen?

semtracks liefert mit seinen linguistischen Analysen Antworten auf diese und weitere Fragen rund um die Brennpunkte der deutschen Politik. Bis zur Bundestagswahl am 27. September 2009 publiziert semtracks auf politicaltracker/bundestagswahl/ in regelmäßigen Abständen semantische Analysen.

Political Tracker: U.S. Presidential Campaigns ‘08 – A Semantic Matrix Analysis
SEMTRACKS Political Tracker provides regular analyses of the campaign speeches by the U.S. presidential candidates in 2008, John McCain and Barack Obama.

Based on our semantic search and tracking technology, we compare the candidates’ language and the characteristic features of their political rhetoric.