Topic Modeling and Text Analysis for Qualitative Policy Research

This paper contributes to a critical methodological discussion that has direct ramifications for policy studies: how computational methods can be concretely incorporated into existing processes of textual analysis and interpretation without compromising scientific integrity. We focus on the computational method of topic modeling and investigate how it interacts with two larger families of qualitative methods: content and classification methods characterized by interest in words as communication units and discourse and representation methods characterized by interest in the meaning of communicative acts. Based on analysis of recent academic publications that have used topic modeling for textual analysis, our findings show that different mixed‐method research designs are appropriate when combining topic modeling with the two groups of methods. Our main concluding argument is that topic modeling enables scholars to apply policy theories and concepts to much larger sets of data. That said, the use of computational methods requires genuine understanding of these techniques to obtain substantially meaningful results. We encourage policy scholars to reflect carefully on methodological issues, and offer a simple heuristic to help identify and address critical points when designing a study using topic modeling.     

The Domestic Camelids (Cetartiodactyla: Camelidae) from the Middle Formative Cemetery of Topater 1 (Atacama Desert,Northern Chile): Osteometric and Palaeopathological Evidence of Cargo Animals

The Middle Formative Cemetery of Topater 1 (ca. 500 bc –100 ad ), located in the oasis of Calama, Northern Chile, presents an unusually diverse array and quantity of funerary offerings, distributed among the graves of more than 200 individuals. Among the offerings are the remains of several mummified camelids and camelid skeletal elements, primarily distal extremities and artefacts made from the bones of these animals. Taking only the first skeletonised anterior and posterior phalanges of Topater 1 camelids, we conducted univariate and multivariate osteometric analyses in order to assign the sample to the appropriate taxonomic groups. At the same time, we described all osteopathologies registered for the extremities in the collection. Of the 45 phalanges measured, 30 were of similar or greater size than contemporary reference llamas. Fourteen of the 164 samples of bone extremities presented pathologies, most of them first phalanges. These abnormalities included different degrees of exostosis and, less commonly, eburnation and lipping. Considering both lines of evidence, we conclude that the llamas sacrificed at the Topater 1 cemetery correspond to, at least, two very large and robust cargo llama morphotypes. When living, these animals would have transported goods as part of the intense exchange activity that was taking place during this period in the region extending from the Pacific coast to Northwest Argentina and perhaps even beyond. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Spirit and the Gifts: Dako,Benjamin Morrell and Cargo in the Vitiaz Trading area,New Guinea

In 1830 an American trader, Benjamin Morrell, abducted Dako, the son of a prominent leader from Uneapa Island in the Bismarck Sea, took him to New York and, four years later, returned him to Uneapa. Dako's encounter with America and his return provides insight into the region half a century before colonization, and in particular into local mytho‐practical knowledge at that time. This enables us to discern subsequent transformations. Myths concerning an origin spirit and guardian of the dead, Pango, which then dominated Uneapa cosmology have since ‘disappeared’. This, we argue, is not because Pango has been superseded or suppressed, but because the parallel ‘white’ world over which the mytho‐practical Pango presided has become ever more manifest as Uneapa has been drawn into a colonial, post‐colonial and globalised world. Today, Pango refers predominantly to white people. Islander's experience of American ‘Pango’ was a shocking event at the time, but we show how trading with Pango established transformatory possibilities for reciprocal trading relations with the dead which remain the concern of today's Cult movement on the island.     

16-18世纪英国宪制和宪制思想演进

英国16-18世纪宪制的演变比较曲折。内战前混合宪制已形成多年,其相应思想长期流行并影响后世。17世纪中期共和国的兴衰和分权制有名无实,给后人留下经验和教训。贵族寡头权力垄断和内阁制的形成发展,增强了18世纪英国混合制的特色。     

Voluntarism, municipalism and welfare: the geography of hospital utilization in England in 1938

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the pattern of hospital utilization (rather than provision) in England prior to the establishment of the NHS, showing the extent to which the probability of obtaining hospital treatment was a function of residence. Access to hospital care depended on the vigour of voluntarism and the political priorities of local governments. The pattern of voluntary hospital utilization is shown to have been markedly unequal, but the effect of municipal provision was to reduce disparities in access to services. The paper demonstrates variations in hospital utilization and discusses contemporary assessments of the situation. This work contributes to debates about the efficacy of non-profit forms of welfare delivery; it provides a novel British study to complement American work in this field. It also raises questions about the contemporary vogue for partnerships in health care delivery between the public and private sectors, arguing that such proposals rest on an optimistic view of history.     

A Late Antique Ceramic Assemblage at Burgaz,Datça Peninsula,South‐west Turkey,and the ‘Normality of the Mixed Cargo’ in the Ancient Mediterranean

By combining underwater survey with formal and compositional study of ceramics, recent work at Burgaz (south‐west Turkey) reveals a late 6th‐ or 7th‐century assemblage of wine and perhaps other agricultural products carried in LR1 and LR2‐related amphoras. Representing various south‐east Aegean and likely Cilician producers, the mixed cargo aboard this probable shipwreck offers insights into the complex dynamics of seaborne distribution at the end of Antiquity. This brief study also underscores the need for documentation in underwater survey of amphora forms and fabrics, particularly those from a period characterized by intensified and diversified production of supra‐regional ceramic types.     

丙酸钙水酒精溶液对纸质文物脱酸效果的影响

为考察丙酸钙作为新型脱酸溶质、水-乙醇作为混合溶剂用于纸质文物脱酸效果.针对不同质量丙酸钙的水-乙醇饱和溶液、不同的水与乙醇的质量比、去酸溶液的量及纸张在溶液中浸泡的时间等因素,对纸张脱酸效果的影响做了系列研究.结果表明,内酸钙为3g的水-乙醇饱和溶液用于纸张脱酸具有较好的效果,纸张在该溶液中浸泡后pH值为7左右,且自然干燥速度快,基本不发皱、不变色.     

Biedermeier desk in Seattle: the Veit Simon children,class and the transnational in Holocaust history

This study offers a transnational history of the Holocaust based on a study of a well-known Berlin Jewish family, the Veit Simons. The authors use this tangled family history as a point of departure for a transnational history of the Holocaust. In particular, they show how to read the links connecting the protagonists to the wider world as a means of writing transnational history. Their history also shows the interconnectedness of perpetrators and victims. Moreover, they demonstrate the importance of the category of class for our understanding of the experience of Holocaust history. While the Veit Simons could hold off some of the persecution, eventually the Holocaust brought them to the ground, resulting in a story of illness, death and loss. Finally, the authors read the story from a feminist angle, offering an examination of the interplay of gender, class and persecution, examining how gender played out in coping while losing one’s former class.     

环南海区域跨境航空网络空间结构演化

本研究收集2000、2010、2018年环南海区域各国家/地区间国际机场的跨境客运、货运航线和航班数目,探究近20年该区域跨境航空客运和货运网络的整体结构与空间格局演化特征,并综合客运和货运网络分析枢纽机场体系演化。研究发现：①该区域跨境航空网络的整体结构具有覆盖范围扩大、“小世界”效应明显和“无标度”特征显著的特点,但客、货运网络的演化存在差异。②该区域跨境航空客运网络具有明显的轴—辐组织结构特征,并呈现“多核心化”的演化趋势,而货运网络中以香港、新加坡为枢纽的轴—辐组织结构与局部性的“点—点”航空货运联系并存,尚未形成全局性的轴—辐组织结构。③该区域的区域客、货运枢纽机场发展呈现综合化、专业化趋势,香港（HKG）和新加坡（SIN）长期以来保持优势地位。     

Pollen evidence for major shifts in forest composition since the mid‐nineteenth‐century in the vicinity of Sudbury,Ontario

Numerous anthropogenic stressors have impacted the region surrounding Sudbury, Ontario, leading to pronounced vegetation and landscape change. Few long‐term records exist to understand the nature or timing of this change. We use pollen analysis from radiometrically dated sediments of Clearwater Lake to compare pre‐ and post‐settlement vegetation. Beginning ～1850 CE, the record shows major shifts in forest composition, coincident with settlement and the beginnings of lumbering. These changes are unprecedented for the past ～5000 years, and consist of increases in diversity and abundance of deciduous tree taxa and herbaceous disturbance indicators. While evidence of mining appears as early as 1900 CE, little effect is seen in the pollen record until ～1930 CE, when sedimentation rates increased and acidification of the lake also began. At this time, further increases in palynological disturbance indicators and minimum sediment organic matter levels indicate the period of maximum vegetation loss. As a result of reduced emissions since the 1970s, water quality began to improve in Clearwater Lake and there are some decreases in the abundances of shade‐intolerant disturbance indicators in the pollen record. However, the fact that the pollen assemblages do not resemble those prior to 1850 suggests lasting vegetation changes.