ON METHOD

This version (2021-11-21) is virtually the same but with updated databases. However there is one new peculiar finding: Careful comparative analysis with Swedish-Television data reveals that archived items at Retriever Research, differ substantially from the most visible versions at the time collected in the foreign news web page. Many items are completely different – but the number of items coincide, which makes it difficult to spot. This shows journalists to some extent can publish one set of accessible articles as history unfolds, and then archive a different set for future historical record.

ABSTRACT

On Method is the second paper of Palestine in Ruins and in Mass Media. It consists of an empirical and a theoretical part: First section reviews the fixed-point search engine introduced in the first paper of the series (Echeverría, 2021). In conclusion, algorithms employed so far yield suitable signatures of the narrative of a given topic. Comparison with refinements are implemented with a much larger set, of 733 articles on the Israel-Palestine conflict, from the biggest Swedish media outlets. These refinements deal with networks of words. The sample covers May 2021 when violence escalates. In summary, both methods and results from the first paper are robust but the refinements are more reliable.

The second section provides a mathematical formulation of the framework. A general setting is considered where a probability measure, for the robustness of a given ranking, is derived. This scheme deals with configurations of unknown complexity. In summary, naïve, basic or mechanical rules with plenty of flaws can be successfully used to gain relevant information from language, good enough for hypothesis testing. Minimal prior knowledge about grammar or language is required. Moreover, the scheme allows for arbitrary or inconsistent rules. In the end a probability measure reflecting the usefulness of the method is given regardless. The solutions to these problems and the scope of the framework justify a general theoretical discussion on society, and provides probabilistic accounting perspectives.

KEYWORDS:Applied Mathematics; Theory of Society; Algorithms; Media Analysis; Accounting

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