Abstract
We propose a new approach for tracing value change. Value change may lead to a mismatch between current value priorities in society and the values for which technologies were designed in the past, such as energy technologies based on fossil fuels, which were developed when sustainability was not considered a very important value. Better anticipating value change is essential to avoid a lack of social acceptance and moral acceptability of technologies. While value change can be studied historically and qualitatively, we propose a more quantitative approach that uses large text corpora. It uses probabilistic topic models, which allow us to trace (new) values that are (still) latent. We demonstrate the approach for five types of value change in technology. Our approach is useful for testing hypotheses about value change, such as verifying whether value change has occurred and identifying patterns of value change. The approach can be used to trace value change for various technologies and text corpora, including scientific articles, newspaper articles, and policy documents.
Highlights
Values may be understood as enduring or long-lasting beliefs about what is good or desirable (Rokeach 1973; Schwartz and Bilsky 1987)
Value change may lead to a mismatch between current value priorities in society and the values for which technologies were designed in the past, such as energy technologies based on fossil fuels, which were developed when sustainability was not considered a very important value
We have proposed an approach based on probabilistic topic models to trace value change in text corpora
Summary
Values may be understood as enduring or long-lasting beliefs about what is good or desirable (Rokeach 1973; Schwartz and Bilsky 1987). An analysis of documents that were not assigned to this topic shows that none mentioned the words “sustainability,” “sustainable,” or “renewable.” The second strategy can be used when synonyms of the value are not used frequently in the data set and do not sufficiently help to supervise the topic. In this case, we use anchor words that relate to each of the different specifications of the value. Anchor words and the topic created for sustainability are presented in Appendix B, Table B1, accessible as online supplementary file
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.