Social Space Research Articles

“I am sorry for judging you”: conceptualizing sentiment reversal among followers in case of falsely alleged social media influencer transgression

PurposeInfluencer transgressions can disappoint their followers. However, there is a lack of clarity about the effects of a false allegation on an influencer–follower relationship. Drawing from cognitive dissonance and moral reasoning theory, the current study aims to examine how this relationship is shaped across three time periods (before the allegation is leveled, after the allegation is leveled, and when the allegation is found to be baseless).Design/methodology/approachWe study comments posted by followers of two falsely alleged social media influencers (SMI) on their YouTube and Instagram channels. Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) followed by netnography is used for thematic analysis. LDA is a social media topic modeling method that processes a statistically representative set of words to explain the tone and tenor of qualitative conversations. A sentiment analysis of the comments is done using SentiStrength.FindingsWhen an allegation is leveled initially, the response from followers is overwhelmingly negative toward the influencer owing to moral coupling. However, when the allegations are proven to be false, the followers return to a positive opinion of the influencer, owing to feelings of dissonance and guilt.Practical implicationsThe study contributes to the fields of influencer marketing, cognitive dissonance and moral reasoning. It highlights how endorsers can take advantage of the positive sentiment that arises once an accused SMI’s transgression is proven false.Originality/valueThis study introduces the concept of “Sentiment Reversal,” which is exhibited in the social media space. In this phenomenon, sentiments move from negative to positive toward the falsely accused SMI as they are vindicated of the previous charge.

Mutations of customary law and state law in the south of Mozambique: paths of hybridisation on gender and family matters

This paper departs from the sociolegal study about the “Norms and Practices of local populations in Conflict Resolution and Access to Law and Justice”. Specifically, we will focus the Chókwè district, in the south of Mozambique, on the social space of the family, namely the paths of hybridisation on gender and family matters, in three main topics: the norms and practices in the family social space, pointing out the tensions between customary law and state law in a context of legal pluralism; the identification and analysis of the norms and practices and the main actors involved on this conflict resolution, by drawing a map of instances and their interactions; and different paths of hybridization between customary law and state law reflected on the practices related in the fieldwork. We argue that Chókwè reflects an emergence of a new Mozambican configuration of legal pluralism in family matters – a composed Local Law.

Extremely virtual and incredibly physical

Abstract Digital mediation strategies are key soft skills to develop amongst students as they prepare to interact in increasingly collaborative settings, socially and professionally. Defined as a set of communication strategies deployed to reach mutual agreement over a dispute, mediation enables students’ cooperation in task-based language teaching settings. However, there is an absence of research investigating learning practices in digital social spaces that allow students to develop mediation strategies while using foreign languages to achieve group task goals. In this article, we will outline and compare the results of two case studies exploring the interaction potential of digital educational activities: Digital Storytelling and Digital Social Reading. The analysis of students’ multimodal conversations during the activities shows that while there are intrinsic interactional affordances related to the technologies (StoryMaps, izi.Travel, ThingLink, Immerse and Glose for Education) used in educational contexts, fostering students’ mediation strategies has only been feasible through a sound instructional methodology. Starting from the data analysis, pedagogical implications are drawn to help language teachers implement virtual technologies to boost students’ digital mediation strategies to act successfully in their professional and social lives. Considerations include pre-activity tech and strategy training and the integration of asynchronous and synchronous moments of reflection. Further discussion pertains to creating a community of practice collaborating to understand tool usability for attaining activity goals.

Validating Ultra-Wideband Positioning System for Precision Cow Tracking in a Commercial Free-Stall Barn

UWB positioning systems offer innovative solutions for precision monitoring dairy cow behaviour and social dynamics, yet their performance in complex commercial barn environments requires thorough validation. This study evaluated the TrackLab 2.13 (Noldus) UWB system in a dairy barn housing 44–49 cows. We assessed stationary tag positioning using ten fixed tags over seven days, proximity detection between eight cows and ten stationary tags, and moving tag positioning using three tags on a stick to simulate cow movement. System performance varied by tag location, with reliability ranging from 4.09% to 96.73% and an overall mean accuracy of 0.126 ± 0.278 m for stationary tags. After the provider updated the software, only 0.62% of measures exceeded the declared accuracy of 0.30 m. Proximity detection between moving cows and stationary tags showed 81.42% accuracy within a 2-m range. While generally meeting specifications, spatial variations in accuracy and reliability were observed, particularly near barn perimeters. These findings highlight UWB technology’s potential for precision livestock farming, welfare assessment, and behaviour research, including social interactions and space use patterns. Results emphasise the need for careful system setup, regular updates, and context-aware data interpretation in commercial settings to maximise benefits in animal welfare monitoring.

From Artifacts to Interactivity: Optimizing Museum Outreach through Technology and Inclusivity

With the development of society, people are paying more and more attention to cultural protection, and museums have become the core of protecting and sharing cultural heritage. Today's museums are not just exhibition halls. They are educational centers and social spaces that help cultivate a sense of history, cultural identity, and community cohesion. However, many traditional museum practices are difficult to attract modern audiences, especially young tourists who pursue immersive experiences. This study analyzed the influencing factors of well-organized and well-designed promotional activities in museums, with a focus on exploring how to strengthen the role of museums as educational, social, and cultural resources. By studying core principles such as structured planning, creativity, and feasibility, this article provides feasible suggestions for strengthening museum promotion strategies. With the integration of modern technology, enhanced interactivity, and widespread use of digital media and targeted activities, museums have the opportunity to expand their audience, cultivate sustained connections, and promote cultural diversity. The study ultimately emphasizes the value of strategic external connections and positions museums as active contributors to cultural dialogue. These perspectives aim to help museums adapt to technological advancements, change public expectations, and lay the foundation for further research on digital participation, visitor protection, and international cultural exchange.

Social inequalities in the twenty-first century: gaps in access to resources, technology and a sustainable future

The article considers new forms of social inequality, interest in which emerged mainly in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century. Special attention is paid to the analysis of global, digital and environmental inequality. The reasons of sociological interest to these problems are considered, the most important of which are the technological progress, changes in the ways of assessing the level of social inequality, as well as the transformation of research optics and tools of cognition, including the emergence of artificial intelligence technologies.The main characteristics of the new forms of social inequality, their interrelation, levels and measurement criteria are presented. The article describes several perspectives of studying global social inequality. In sociological literature, most of them are related to the transition from the study of the nation-state as a key unit of analysis to the study of global social space. The analysis of digital inequality and the problem of the social divide now appears as a combination of several levels of research and is related to the consideration of access to technology, possession of digital skills, and the life chances and opportunities. Environmental pollution and climate change have led to research interest in socio-environmental inequalities, which are related to the unequal distribution of environmental risks. Environmental neo-colonialism is examined in the context of analyzing environmental inequalities as a factor that rein forces social inequalities.The article concludes that further sociological study of social inequality issues is necessary, analyzes the role of sociology in addressing these issues and actualizing the data.

Discursive Patterns of Opinion-Based Knowledge in the Production of Health-Related Social Media Posts in Turkey

Online media platforms play a central role in presenting opinions, facilitating information exchange, and supporting knowledge production. However, on most social media platforms, verifying the credibility of posts and comments remains highly challenging due to their open nature and lack of a strong governance structure. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, social media platforms became tainted by uncertain knowledge, partly caused by the limited control these platforms have over user-generated content. This lack of credible information fueled a collective state of panic (Peschke, 2021). Since social media spaces largely involve individuals engaging and sharing their opinions, the credibility of knowledge production on these platforms must be questioned. Despite the proliferation of disinformation, uncertainty, and misinformation on social media platforms (Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017), opinion-based knowledge production has also emerged from these channels, which are challenging to monitor. This article analyzes the communication patterns on health of Turkish posts and comments on Facebook and Twitter during October and November 2021. The data were evaluated against opinion-based content, allowing this study to trace the dynamics of posts and comments by categorizing them as opinion, information, or knowledge production. Data interpretation is grounded in these classifications, with particular attention to the interplay between public engagement and health information. Understanding how the media-based public creates opinion-based knowledge during the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic underscores the potential for collaboration between media-based publics and scientific authorities.

Neighborhoods, Networks, and HIV Care Among Men Who Have Sex With Men: Proposal for a Longitudinal Study.

The majority of people living with HIV in the United States are men who have sex with men (MSM), with race- and ethnicity-based disparities in HIV rates and care continuum. In order to uncover the neighborhood- and network-involved pathways that produce HIV care outcome disparities, systematic, theory-based investigation of the specific and intersecting neighborhood and social network characteristics that relate to the HIV care continuum must be engaged. Using socioecological and intersectional conceptual frameworks, we aim to identify individual-, neighborhood-, and network-level characteristics associated with HIV care continuum outcomes (viral suppression, retention in care, and antiretroviral adherence) among MSM living with HIV in New York City. In the longitudinal cohort study, we assess 3 neighborhoods of potential influence (residential, social, and health care access activity spaces) using Google Earth. We investigate the influence of neighborhood composition (eg, concentrated poverty and racial segregation) and four neighborhood-level characteristics domains: (1) community violence, physical disorder, and social disorganization (eg, crime rates and housing vacancy); (2) alcohol and other drug use; (3) social norms (eg, homophobia and HIV stigma); and (4) community resources (eg, social services and public transit access). We test theoretical pathways of influence, including stress or coping, stigma or resilience, and access to resources, across the different neighborhoods in which MSM live, socialize, and receive HIV care. At each visit, we locate each participant's reported activity spaces (ie, neighborhoods of potential influence) and collect individual-level data on relevant covariates (including perceptions of or exposure to neighborhoods) and social network inventory data on the composition, social support, and perceived social norms. The outcomes are HIV viral suppression, retention in care, and antiretroviral adherence. These data are combined with an existing, extensive geospatial database of relevant area characteristics. Spatial analysis and multilevel modeling are used to test the main theory-driven hypotheses and capture independent neighborhood-level and network-level effects and changes over time. The study began enrollment in March 2019 and concluded visits in December 2023, with a total of 327 participants enrolled. The median age was 44.1 (SD 11.5) years. Almost all participants self-identified as cisgender men (n=313, 98.1%) and as gay, homosexual, or bisexual (n=301, 94.4%). Overall, 192 (60.1%) participants identified as non-Hispanic Black, and 81 (25.3%) identified as Hispanic. Most (n=201, 63%) reported at least occasional difficulty in meeting basic needs (eg, rent and food) in the past 6 months. The mean number of years living with HIV was 15.4 (SD 10.1). This study will have direct implications for the design of multilevel interventions, addressing factors at the neighborhood, network, and individual levels. Results may inform urban planning and program design to improve HIV care outcomes for MSM, particularly for Black and Latino MSM living in urban areas. PRR1-10.2196/64358.

State-led Maritime Governance, Education and Training Nexus in South Africa

The maritime environment has a significant socio-economic impact on nations, regional and global economies. However, it also experiences many challenges related to safety, security, Education and Training (E & T) which stakeholders such as businesses and government through State institutions play a crucial role in addressing. In addition to high global labour demands, E & T challenges have related to the decreasing number of youth taking up maritime E & T. In addition, technological advancements affect costs, standards, and quality of maritime ET. The Republic of South Africa (RSA) has not been immune to these challenges. Public higher E & T institutions in RSA are the primary providers of tertiary maritime E & T but remain confronted by numerous challenges tied to organisational resources, State funding and the growing demand for increased internal and external capacity. This study’s objective was to examine maritime State-led interventions and challenges in selected public higher E & T institutions offering maritime studies in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), RSA. Guided by a Systems Thinking approach, this empirical study adopted a qualitative research methodology utilizing interviews with key knowledge holders and secondary data. It was found that there exists a consensual view that higher E & T institutions offering maritime studies in the province are well positioned to play a more meaningful role in addressing the country’s high unemployment rate. However, the current conditions in maritime E & T have undermined this and resulted in the pursuit of international partnerships to address local deficiencies. These findings are significant to stakeholders involved in maritime higher E & T, State-led maritime interventions, policymaking, governance, management, leadership and administration. The findings of the study also point to the need for a holistic understanding of maritime issues and challenges as maritime E & T is a complex global social space. This could eventually facilitate innovation, enhance leadership and contribute to meaningful and crucial partnerships between developed and more developing nations.

Precarity of Friendship in Times of Crisis: Amicitia After Caesar

Abstract This chapter considers the intense negotiations around the meaning of friendship, or rather the Latin concept of amicitia, Essential discussions of amicitia in Roman society are Brunt 1988, Konstan 1997, Williams 2012. In connection with Amic., see also Götter 1996, Habinek 1990 on candor. Verboven 2011 provides an excellent overview, including a concise history of scholarship on the subject. I use the two terms somewhat interchangeably in this paper, opting for amicitia when emphasizing the Roman institutional sense and friendship when discussing individual relationships and when affection is more prominent. in the aftermath of the assassination of Julius Caesar in March 44 BCE. Among the many consequences of this event, the fact that among the assassins were several close and long-standing associates of the dictator occasioned discussions of amicitia and, in particular, when it was appropriate to discontinue an existing relationship and when to reconcile after a rupture. We have partial, and no doubt skewed, access to these discussions through a number of treatments in the contemporary texts in different genres composed by Marcus Tullius Cicero, who himself participated in such relationships with a number of the main players. The challenges to the rather superficial amicitia between Cicero and Marc Antony are apparent in the First Philippic, a speech in which Cicero addresses Antony’s accusation that his behavior constituted a breach of amicitia between the two men, as the well as in the letters they exchanged. The correspondence between Cicero and the Caesarian Gaius Matius, who was apparently widely criticized for his continuing adherence to Caesar’s memory, tackles the limits of the obligations of amicitia where they come into conflict with the interests of the state. Finally, the short ethical treatise Laelius, On Friendship explores many of the same issues on a number of different levels, from the pragmatic to the philosophical. The treatise might appear at first glance to be of universal, rather than topical interest, and that is certainly the way in which many later readers generally received it. The undeniable appeal of Cicero’s treatment is well attested by the work’s influence and lasting popularity. The dedication of the work to Cicero’s closest friend Atticus seems to mark it as a work arising out of personal rather than political concerns. The work’s formal similarity to Cato, De Senectute, also dedicated to Atticus, is in this sense misleading, as the death of Caesar is a crucial dividing line between the two texts and their relationship to current concerns; cf. Zetzel 1972, 177–178. On the date of Sen. see also Powell 1988, 267–268. My goal in this chapter is to read the exchange between Cicero and Matius as a window onto contemporary issues and contemporary debates and then use what we learn from the letters to understand how Cicero treats the same questions in the more generalized context of the treatise, No clear relative chronology can be established for the letters and the treatise. The Matius correspondence used to be dated to August, following Cicero’s absence from Rome, but Kytzler’s suggestion of mid-October (1960, 102 n.1), after a time back in the city, has been accepted by many, including Shackleton Bailey in his commentary on the letters (1977, 486). The composition of Amic. itself can only be located by placing it between Caesar’s death on the Ides of March and the mention of it in the second book of Off., finished by November (Hellmann 1976, 72–74 offers a summary of a scholarly back-and-forth proposing a series of rewrites and additions to account for the internal inconsistences, on which see below; see also Zetzel’s 1972, 178–179 argument for a summer date). It is tempting to see the treatise as a response to Matius’ complaint (cf. Lintott 2008, 359, Schofield 2021, 213; Hellmann 1976 reads the exchange to argue that Cicero revised the treatise in response), but arguments can be made for either sequence and, ultimately, it is more important to see the two texts as part of the same intellectual and social space, also broadly shared with the securely dated Phil. 1, delivered in September. Cf. Powell 1990, 5–6, Griffin 1997, 89. and how the topical concerns affects his literary, rhetorical, and philosophical choices.

The social commentary of Squid Game: reflections on Korean art, space and inequality

This paper discusses how communal spaces of childhood activity in Korea are reimagined in the drama Squid Game as part of a social commentary on class and economy. Many spaces shown in Squid Game are nostalgic representations of common Korean playgrounds, parks, and urban neighborhoods. In the show, however, these spaces of delightful memory are transformed into gory places where the literalized violence of neoliberal capitalism plays out. I argue that the creators of the show participate in a history of understanding communal spaces as focal points of social structure and expression that have been crucial in Korea since the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). The use of such spaces over centuries, including their reenvisioning in modern media, illustrates how political and economic relationships are intimately tied to constructions and perceptions of space. Through a detailed structural, visual, and semiotic analysis of the communal spaces of historical and modern urban Korea, and a comparison with the spaces in Squid Game, I argue that social spaces are intimately tied to social hierarchies and the long history of inequality in Korea.

(Dis)connected by design? Using participatory citizen science to uncover environmental determinants of social connectedness for youth in under-resourced neighbourhoods.

Social isolation and loneliness are a growing public health concern. Inadequacies in neighbourhood social infrastructure can undermine social connectedness, particularly for youth, who are dependent on their local environments yet often marginalized from public spaces and city planning. Integrating citizen science with participatory action research, the Youth.hood study set out to explore how neighbourhood built environments help or hinder social connectedness from the understudied perspective of youth in under-resourced and racialized communities. Youth (n = 42) from three neighbourhoods in Vancouver, Canada were recruited to: (1) Assess environmental assets and barriers to connectedness in their neighbourhoods using a digital photovoice app; (2) Analyze and prioritize their collective data into themes; and (3) Design and advocate for environmental improvements through a participatory workshop and forum with residents, city planners, and elected officials. Data on participant characteristics and neighbourhood perceptions were collected via an online survey and analyzed descriptively. Participatory analysis was conducted with youth using methods from thematic analysis, photovoice, and design thinking. Youth captured 227 environmental features impacting their connectedness. The most frequently reported assets were parks and nature (n = 39, 17%), including formal and informal green spaces, and food outlets (n = 25, 11%). Top barriers included poor neighbourhood aesthetics (n = 14, 6%) and inadequate streets and sidewalks (n = 14, 6%). Thematic analysis with youth underscored four themes: (1) Connecting through mobility: The fun and functionality of getting around without a car; (2) The power of aesthetics: Mediating connections to people and place; (3) Retreating to connect: Seeking out social and restorative spaces for all; and (4) Under-resourced, not under-valued: Uncovering assets for sociocultural connection. Youth described their local environments as affording (or denying) opportunities for physical, emotional, and cultural connection at both an individual and community level. Our findings extend evidence on key environmental determinants of social connectedness for youth, while highlighting the potential of community design to support multiple dimensions of healthy social development. Additionally, this work demonstrates the resilience and agency of youth in under-resourced settings, and underscores the importance of honouring assets, co-production, and intergenerational planning when working to advance healthy, connected, and youthful cities.

The unappreciated centrality of ethnoracially mixed Americans to the nation’s demographic future

The ethnoracial future of the United States has been framed as a demographic binary: Whites vs. people of color. The argument here is that this binary distorts by failing to take into adequate account the rapidly growing group of Americans who have been raised in mixed minority and White families, the great majority of the total mixed population. The members of this group generally have distinctive social characteristics: socioeconomic advantages compared to minorities and social integration into milieus with many Whites, as revealed by relatively high rates of marriage to them. However, their identities often encompass their minority heritage. Accordingly, they straddle the society’s major ethnoracial fracture line, creating an in-between social space and connecting, through kinship and other close social relations, both of its sides. However, their numbers are distorted in public national population data, such as census data and population projections; and they are typically counted as part of the non-White population. The recently announced revision of the race/ethnic data standards for the census offers an opportunity to refashion public data in a way that illuminates the important role this mixed group is likely to play in the nation’s demographic future.

The Postdigital Panorama

University teachers are in the midst of a messy and entangled postdigital era. They face a constant stream of data and increasingly visible teaching as a consequence of digital media and AI spaces. This prompts the need for identity work to reconsider the personal, professional and societal meanings of the role of teachers in a world where people and machines are becoming further interwoven. Narrowing it down to social media spaces that encompass context collapse, it is becoming increasingly difficult to draw a line between personal and professional facets of life. Higher education teachers, who contribute to social media, construct fluid, greatly changeable and intermingled identities. The current study aims to conceptualise the practices and roles that may guide these emerging identities using a theoretical vignette as a tool. The presented case can initiate the discussions on who we are and who we are becoming in the current realities and prompt questions about learning and teaching in the networked society.

Heutagogical-based mobile social media space

This concise paper aims to propose a framework for enhancing intercultural communication competencies among Chinese as foreign language (CFL) learners using Heutagogical-based Mobile Social Media spaces. Integrating qualitative and quantitative data analysis with Activity Theory (AT) and the Design for Transformative Mobile Learning (DTML) framework, this study seeks to develop a potentially effective educational approach. By leveraging mobile social media, the envisioned framework intends to support autonomous learning and foster intercultural competencies among CFL learners.

Chirp: The Impact of Private Online Self-Disclosure on Perceived Social Support

As social media continues to grow as a space for emotional self-disclosure, it is important to understand whether self-disclosure acts as a causal factor impacting positive outcomes for users. Thus we developed Chirp, an anonymous social media sandbox space designed to explore the underlying effects of disclosure within online spaces. Users in Chirp are prompted to self-disclose moods and emotions using emojis. Through a between-subjects study among a cohort of first-year undergraduate student users on Chirp, we evaluate the effect of self-disclosure within semi-private online spaces on social support. While Chirp use does not show a significant increase in measured feelings of social support, user responses suggest that self-disclosure in Chirp may provide more social support than typical social media use or simple mood tracking over a two-week period. Our findings indicate that even in pseudo-anonymous, low-bandwidth communication platforms, self-disclosure may cause increased feelings of social support. This work highlights the impact of communication in semi-private online spaces on perceived social support.

From bliss to burden: An ethnographic inquiry into how social, material and individual obstacles to digital well-being shape everyday life

Drawing from a two-year ethnography with sixteen adults in Flanders and Brussels, Belgium, this study disentangles the social, material, and individual obstacles experienced in day-to-day life that hinder and foster digital well-being. Findings show how these obstacles are interrelated, laying bare the tensions that cut across social relations, digital devices, and spaces. Moreover, (gendered) responsibilities and social relations impact whether someone can, or even desires, to overcome obstacles to digital well-being. We thus observed a “constrained agency” that limited individual efforts in feeling digitally well. Emphasizing the relational characteristics of connected everyday life, the study argues that identifying where agency is constrained can make visible the layers and tensions in people’s experiences with digital media use. To put this into practice, we echo the call for a re-imagination of digitized everyday life that questions underlying inequalities and privileges, seeing a need for individual and collective strategies that can foster sustainable digital well-being.

"I'm in the Bluesky Tonight": Insights from a year worth of social data.

Pollution of online social spaces caused by rampaging d/misinformation is a growing societal concern. However, recent decisions to reduce access to social media APIs are causing a shortage of publicly available, recent, social media data, thus hindering the advancement of computational social science as a whole. We present a large, high-coverage dataset of social interactions and user-generated content from Bluesky Social to address this pressing issue. The dataset contains the complete post history of over 4M users (81% of all registered accounts), totalling 235M posts. We also make available social data covering follow, comment, repost, and quote interactions. Since Bluesky allows users to create and like feed generators (i.e., content recommendation algorithms), we also release the full output of several popular algorithms available on the platform, along with their timestamped "like" interactions. This dataset allows novel analysis of online behavior and human-machine engagement patterns. Notably, it provides ground-truth data for studying the effects of content exposure and self-selection and performing content virality and diffusion analysis.

Phthisis and Romantic Sensibility: The Social Construction of the Idea of Illness

This article aims to understand the process of social construction of the idea of phthisis as a “romantic” illness. The construction of the discursive space on phthisis expresses the conjuncture coalitions of interests that shape the different discursive registers produced by various agents from diverse social spaces (political, medical, religious, literary), making it possible to recognise, legitimise and promote the social visibility of the idea of phthisis as a “romantic” illness. Phthisis, associated with a romantic aesthetic, was seen as a hereditary disease or an illness associated with fate that affected the sensitive souls of the romantic elites, namely young people, women and fragile beings who were consumed by “sad passions”. Received: 1 June 2024 / Accepted: 21 October 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024

Historical markets as special spaces of Italy

The article undertakes an anthropological examination of Italian historical markets which are well known but, surprisingly, have been little studied to date. This ancient trade institution has not just survived through the present day, but in fact it has not lost its vitality and still enjoys unusually high popularity among the locals. I attempt to address the aspects of its existence that had not previously been given enough research attention: the human components of markets, their gender, ethnic, and social composition, the relationships between sellers and buyers, as well as the reasons these rather archaic trading structures continue to enjoy high social ratings. I argue that these markets are more than just places of trade; they represent special social and cultural spaces in the context of communal life – certain places of memory – which distinguishes them from regular markets in the usual sense. In this study, I make extensive use of field materials, given the lack of scholarly publications on the subject.