D I G I TA L METHODS
the australian carbon tax
PART 1 - CONTROVERSY
INTRODUCTION
CONTROVERSY CHOICE
AUSTRALIAN CARBON TAX
RESEARCH QUESTION
PART 2 - PROTOCOL
INTRODUCTION
STEP 1 corpus determination
STEP 2 reading and categorization of articles
STEP 3 reading and counting of comments
STEP 4 semantic extraction and categorization
STEP 5 values consideration
PART 3 - VISUALIZATION
#1 POLARIZATION
#2 VARIETY
#2.1 VARIETY PEAKS
#3 RELEVANCE
#4 PROMINENCE
CASE-STUDY
CONCLUSIONS
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
13
14
14
16
19
21
22
26
30
32
40
43
50
CONTENTS
PART 1controversy
6
INTRODUCTION
Industries reduce pollutionpaying the carbon taxCARBON TAX
ESTABLISHMENTExtra costs passed on to consumers by price increases
Small businesses and householdshave a price incentive to save energy and buy less pollution-intensive goods and services
part of the carbon taxrevenue is used to compensate households for price rises
21 3 4 As demand rises for clean energy efficiency, products and investment becomes more attractive and affordable
5 Carbon intensive industries industries shift toward lower emissions. Growth in cleaner energy and carbonsequestering technology
6 Emissions fall7
COMPENSATION
PRICE RISECARBON TAX
The increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is one of the
main causes of climate change.
CO2 emissions are extremely harmful for both the environment
and the human health: according to statistics of the WHO (World
Health Organization) they directly increase cardiorespiratory
diseases, and increasing temperature they intensify the
proliferation of vector borne and water borne diseases (cholera,
diarrhoea, dengue, malaria).
Several countries (such as Finland, Sweden, UK, New Zealand,
Quebéc State, British Columbia), during the years adopted the
carbon tax as a measure to ease the burden that human-caused
pollution contribute to make. This taxation is a scheme of carbon
pricing with the aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since
the early stages of the taxation design, it has always been subject
to a big controversy, splitting the public opinion into a side of
carbon tax-pro and another side of carbon tax-cons.
part 1 - controversy
Many economists believe a tax on CO2 is the most efficient
market approach to climate change because it has several
advantages, particularly comparing it to other climate change
oriented measures such as the cap-and–trade scheme:
• Predictable carbon prices
• Easier to understand
• Revenue can be returned via tax cuts and/or used for public
goods;
On the other side, it has some disadvantages:
• there is no limit on the amount of carbon that can be emitted
• tax revenues may end up being wasted in special interest
spending, or priorities that are only
peripheral to climate or sustainability (corn-based ethanol,
nuclear., etc).
7
The field of research has been specified using digital tools that
contribute to a more conscious view of the hot spot of the con-
troversy. What at first has been pointed out is that the pattern
of web research about this topic changed in the past years. The
digital tool Google Trends, show how researches using the query
“Carbon tax”, remained mostly constant in the span 2007-2010,
while increasing dramatically in year 2011 and reaching a peak
in the second half of the year. Comparing the queries “Carbon
tax” and the more general “Climate change” it can be seen that,
quite surprisingly, the first overtook the second in July 2011.
Looking at the bar chart that Google trends provides, it can be
also seen a concentration of researches in Australia and specifi-
cally in the English language.
This analysis has leaded to focus the research on the more spe-
cifical Australian area: in fact, it is in this country that a debate
got heated during 2011 summer.
CONTROVERSY CHOICEpart 1 - controversy
8
AUSTRALIAN CARBON TAXpart 1 - controversy
Australia is a country where climate change has always been a
very significant topic, mostly because, even if very less popula-
ted, it is proportionally the first CO2 pro capital producer in the
world.
In November 2011 the majority of the Australian Parliament,
headed by the PM Julia Gillard (leader of Australian Labor
Party) with the support of the Climate change and energy effi-
ciency minister Greg Combet, approved the law that prices the
CO2 emissions.
Under this scheme, around 500 entities will be required to buy
permits for each tonne of CO2 emitted: This cost will initially be
set at $23, and increase gradually until 2015. Personal income
tax will be reduced and the tax-free threshold increased.
This politic measure generated a huge controversy throughout
the country: most of the population consider this tax an exces-
sive burden on the family outcomes, without a being real help
for the environment. Among the main opposers of the tax, the
large group of climate change deniers, that criticize the concept
of global warming for itself and subsequently consider iniquous
and irrelevant this kind of taxation. Other people consider the
carbon tax as a possible contribution, even if not resolutive, to a
global economy lead towards a better and cleaner planet .
The debate soon turned out to be substantially political, becau-
se one of the point that Miss Gillard’s government programme
focused on, was indeed not to establish the carbon tax. This
change in the game in the matter of climate policies, subsequent
to the alliance of the labors with the greens, has caused a huge
discontent among the population that voted for her. The oppo-
sition, headed by Australian Liberal Party’s leader Mr. Tony
Abbott, sided sharply against the carbon tax, preferring on the
other side the emission trading scheme adopted also in Europe.
9
AUSTRALIAN CARBON TAX RESEARCH QUESTIONpart 1 - controversy
This research focuses on what web users thinks about carbon
tax, specifically considering their response to public information
sources. In the “sharing era” what counts the most is not only
what people say, but particularly how they say it: the prelimina-
ry consideration is that if an idea many times is expressed (in
a sort of binary code) just in a form of positive/negative, more
often it is developed in slight and ambiguous ways.
It is remarkable to consider, in addition to a mere statistic work
based on the count of different opinions, how an idea can be ex-
pressed and supported in its different shades. The attempt is to
experiment a sentimental analysis based of a combined work of
both human judgment and scientific digital tools.
The project questions can be summarized as follows [img 3]
1) What do web users think
about Australian carbon tax?
3)Which are the main topics that
people presents in support of their ideas?
2) How do they express
their opinions?
55 51 32 197 155
11 lin
ks
POLITICAL DEBATE
PART 2protocol
12
INTRODUCTIONpart 2- protocol
In the determination of a functional protocol, the first question to
ask is which is the most suitable place to find materials. According
to the aim of studying users’ point of view, at first they have been
considered several different platforms, such as social networks,
blogs and video-sharing websites, but they didn’t seem to respond
to the basic requirements they had previously been established: cle-
ar argumentation and heterogeneity of opinions, pertinence to the
input-topic and lack of vulgar language.
Subsequently it has been chosen the way of expressing an opinion
that most matched these criteria: the comments on articles found
on online newspapers, both Australians and non Australians. The
major factor that lead the research to focus on these particular field
is that commenting an article most of the time implies a stronger
interest in the topic discussed in the article itself.
GOOGLE\NEWS
DMI HARVESTER
MANUAL CLEANING
CATEGORIZATION
READING
CORPUS DEFINITION
removing links without comments
46 links
1 2 3 4 5political debate
political acts
non-politicalopinions
popoularreactions
extra-AUchronicles
SI NO N.R.
*.txt *.txt
*.html *.html
x
ALCHEMY API*.csv *.csv
MANUAL CLEANING
time range: last 3 monthscorpus size: 200 linkquery: “carbon tax” Australia
DIVISION BY TOPICS
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12COUNT RELEVANCE WEIGHT
semantic varietypolarization
relavancepolarization
prominence by topicpolarization
x 5 volte
tools
manual steps
manual process
digital process
13
The first step has been a research on news.google.com, with the
query “Carbon tax” Australia. Results have been filtered con-
sidering a corpus of 200 links, in a time range of the last four
months.
With DMI Harvester, detection of these 200 links, checking
the boxe “Exclude URLs from Google and Youtube”.
This corpus made of 200 links, has been manually checked and
cleaned following these criteria:
1) Exclusion of “Not found” links
2) Exclusion of links that diverted from the main topic
3) Exclusion of the news websites that didn’t allow comments
The corpus has this way been reduced to a total of 46 links.
STEP 1_Corpuspart 2- protocol
1
2
Dislocation of newspaper site in Australia
dailytelegraph.com.autheaustralian.com.au
theherald.com.au
northernstar.com.au
perthnow.com.au
heraldsun.com.au
abc.net.au
sbs.com.au
thechronicle.com.au
adelaidenow.com.ausmh.com.au
news.com.au
fw.farmonline.com.au
Perth
National
Adelaide
MelbourneCanberra
Sidney
Newcastle
BrisbaneGoonellabah
Goulburn
canberratimes.com.au
goulburnpost.com.au
14
Each article has been read and inserted in a specific category.
It has been possible to detect five categories according to the
article typology: political debate, non political opinions, political
acts, popular reactions and extra-australian chronicles. This sub-
division is useful in order to achieve a more complete knowledge
of the controversy dynamics: in fact depending on the input, the
answer may vary considerably.
Each comment has been read and divided according to its ex-
pression of a favourable opinion about carbon tax or a negative
one. It has been introduced a third group of comments that for
their particular characteristics couldn’t fit in the mere judge-
ment of pro/cons: the comments that have been considered not
relevant because they didn’t express a clear and categorizable
opinion, because they diverted from the main topic (in this case,
particularly politic dissertations that didn’t include carbon tax
itself) or simply because they were a noise source.
The result of this preliminary analysis is a spreadsheet that
shows the distribution of the consent among the analysed ca-
tegories. What at first can be seen, on a basis of about 1200
comments, is a sharp predominance of the cons above the pro.
STEP 3_ reading, counting of comments
part 2- protocol
STEP 2_ reading and categorization of articles
part 2- protocol
15
STEP 3_ reading, counting of comments
STEP 2_ reading and categorization of articles
15 55 51 32 197 155 239 176 21 21 3 42 71 17
11 lin
ks
4 link
s
11 lin
ks
5 link
s
5 link
s
NON-POLITICAL OPINIONS POPULAR REACTIONS EXTRA-AU CHRONICLESPOLITICAL DEBATE
SEMANTIC EXTRACTION WITH ALCHEMY API
POLITICAL ACTS
words words
wordswords
56
PRO
209
471 527
344310
CONS
788
NOT RELEVANT
174
16
At this point, each category was divided in the three sub-catego-
ries of pro, cons and not relevant: the last one has however been
removed because it wasn’t made of significant data on which to
build a semantic analysis.
Afterwards, for each category they have been generated two
html files containing respectively all the comments in favour and
against the carbon tax.
Using Alchemy API, it has been obtained a semantic analysis
made by 10 csv files that considered concept, entities and
keywords. The following step required an interpretation of the
raw data the tool had given, and what at first seemed necessary
was to consider all the data got from the extraction, not limi-
ting it only to concept or entities. After a brief cleaning of the
words detected by the tool but completely not relevant, such as
sequences of random letters and numbers or lonely prepositions.
They have also been removed the words “Australia” and “Carbon
tax”, that were contained in each csv because they were part of
the original query. The process developed then into a further
categorization ignoring the one proposed by the tool (that auto-
matically detect some fields such, for example, City, People or
Organizations).
They were generated 12 categories that emerged in a physio-
logical way from the reading of the extracted words, and once
merged them in a color subdivision they have been checked and
cleaned a second time, taking care of removing the equal words.
In addition to these categories it has been added another one
that included all the words that, even if pertinent to the carbon
tax controversy, weren’t clearly attributable to one of the twelve
previously determined. The purpose of this additional category
is to show how in a pattern of similar topics what can make the
difference is indeed the word that “doesn’t fit in”.
STEP 4_ semantic extraction and categorization part 2- protocol
17
taxesCarbon tax and other taxation in Australia or not
majority partyPrime Minister Giulia Gillard, Labour Party and all the majority line-up
opposition partyOpposition leader Tony Abbott, Liberal Party all the minority line-up
geographical referencesCities and Countries in Australia and all over the world
regulationProtocols (like Kyoto), tradings, carbon prices regulations
climate referencesAll about climate change, global warming and the scientific references
fossil fuelsCarbon fossil fuels, like coal, fuel and natural gas
pollutant Emissions of pollutant gases, like Co2 emission
energiesAlternative or clean energies
moneyMicro economics issues, family income, bills, wage
businessMacro economics issues, enterprises, multinationals company
istitutionsState institutions or non governative organizations
18
Raw .csv data, uncleaned
Cleaned and categorized data
19
Typically, an Alchemy analysis provides three different measu-
res that can be used to visualize a controversy: count, (only for
“entities”) relevance and the total count of the words shown in
the csv, that give an idea of the semantic variety in the analysed
category. For this research they have been used relevance and
words count, used alone or weighted. The weighting is a parti-
cularly important factor because one of the main purposes of
the analysis is to compare words and topics amongst the same
category but also between different categories: in order to do it,
it is necessary to convert all the values considered in a compa-
rable base, in this case 100. This way the absolute value become
relative and the comparison is possibile.
The weighting process starts from the idea that, if both count
and relevance can express a lot if considered individually, they
have a greater visualizing potential if joined to express a more
reliable value.
STEP 5_ value considerationpart 2- protocol
count1° value
2° value
3° valueweight
count : tot count = x : 100
count * 100
use the percentage to comparecounts between different topics
relevance
always use the averageof relevance of topics relevance
try to weighting percentage and average in order to estimate topics prominence
tot count
▼
percentage100 * average( )
0,49
2267
5
0,34
8631 0,
4279
0175
0,31
8323
67
0,27
5667
5
PART 3visualization
22
In the attempt to perceive the predominant topics in the pro-
side and in the cons-side, it has been visualized the polarization
graph: in these three graphs it is expressed the polarization of the
twelve topics (plus the discriminant category) between the two
poles of pro and cons. The closeness of a topic to one of the two
vertical axes, reflects the real closeness to the correspondent side.
They have been proposed three versions (prominence, relevan-
ce, word count) to allow a comparison and an observation of the
main patterns.
#1 POLARIZATION part 3- visualization
23
count
95
70
30
95
70
30
40
50
110
0 0
110
taxesgeographic references
clean energy
institutions
majority party
moneyopposition partyregulation
discriminate
pollutants
fossil fuels business
climate references
PRO CONS
#1 POLARIZATION
Count: this value express how many words belong to each topic.
The highest value of each topic is used to set the position
on the Y axe.
1
24
relevance
PRO CONS
0,95
0,70
0,30
0,50
0,95
0,70
0,30
0,50
clean energy
pollutants
1
0 0
1
taxes
climate references
regulationfossil fuels
money
geographic references
opposition partymajority party
discriminate
business
Relevance: this value consider the relevance of each word ex-
tract with Alchemy. The highest value of each topic is used to
set the position on the Y axe.
2
25
95
70
30
95
70
30
5050
110
0 0
110
discriminate
PRO CONS
Prominence: the value used in this graph considers the weighting
of both relevance and count. The highest value of each topic is
used to set the position on the Y axe .
3
prominence
26
#2 SEMANTIC VARIETY part 3- visualization
The two graphs show the whole semantic corpus extracted with
Alchemy after the operation of checking and cleaning, and it
is clearly visible the subdivision in 12 different categories.
The aim of these visualizations is to point out the semantic va-
riability for each category. Linking the words that are equal in
different categories clearly shows how, for different topics, users
can express their ideas in a less heterogeneous way. It can be
seen a so called “reticulate of variability”: more links correspond
to a smaller vocabulary used to express the same concept. This
is particularly significant in order to have a clear and complete
view on users’ habits and to understand which are the topics
that are closer to the person who’s speaking. As a matter of fact,
topics more “official” such as politics or climate change related
have a smaller semantic variations, whilst hotter topics such as
money and household do actually have a more prominent se-
mantic variability
Obama
emissions trading
Tony Abbott
emission standard
Liberal policy
Climate change
Turnbull
Global warming
prime minister Julia Gillard
LiberalsTony Abbott
national party
Mr No
greens
Bre’r Abbott
Labor party
entire payroll tax
socialistGillard government
domestic carbon tax
Howard government
coal tax
Howard
a carbon tax
Labor party
marketcoal industry
Miss GillardWestern Europe
coal exportersmining australian coal
JapanNorth America
australian coal exports
UKRupert Murdochclean energy nance
SingaporeMelbourne
renewablenuclear power
India
clean energy
China
energy sources
carbon footprint
USA
capita carbon emissionlowest carbon dioxide
Wstern Australia Europe
carbon pollution
South Australia
pollutiongreenhouse gas
Victoria
fuel emission
China total domestic emissions
carbon dioxidelittle obfuscation
Co2 production coal seam gas
honourable thingcompetitive advantage
carbon emission
global
GHG carbon dioxide
guilty conciences
emission reduction strategy
extensive public consultation
industrial revolution
regulation pricing carbon
trading scheme
good thing
carbon price
negligible bene tplanet
coal ban treaty
cleaner
emission tradingKyoto protocol
tsunamienergy bills
brown dirty coalaustralian coal supply
UKGillard government
chinese coal
life insurance
fuel coal plant capacity
biggest carbon tax
pigovian tax
pollution belching coal
australian coal
sulpher oxidecarbon dioxide
CNG coal plants
medicare threshold
medicare
natural gascoal mining
ATI
fossil fuel
colder climate
coal
climate science
prime minister
global warming
state government
brown coal
dirtiest p
ower station
clown act
long time
carbon
Abraham Lincoln
Murdoch media
massive mining companies
Jimmy Carter
conservative radio media
Hazelwood
Murdoch
Tea Party
trading co
ncept
federal parliament
carbon
price
libertarian cato insitute
emiss
ion tra
ding
energy
energy efciency
Kyoto P
rotoco
l
energ
y ef cie
nt
University od Colorado
low em
ission
tech
nolog
y
Guy Pearce
greate
st ren
ewab
le reso
urces
Gillard government
Mc Mansion
small
er cle
an ge
nerat
ors
bipart
isan s
uppo
rt
fossil fuels
clean energy
outst
andin
g exam
ple
powe
rful e
nemies
Israel
little
pigs
Melbourne
bette
r Aus
tralia
climate change
signi
cant
displa
y
global warming
carbon footprint
utter
nons
ense
Murdo
ch-A
bbott
spin
greenhouse gas emission
treme
ndou
s boo
m
carbon dioxide
carbon pricing
bulls
hit po
litics
Kyoto Protocol
ignora
nt vi
ctims
low carbon economy
large
dista
nces
nake
d part
isan
emission trading
baby
boom
ers
Howard
high c
ertain
ty
Turnbulljust a one trick pony
don’t
belie
velon
g term
think
ing
Christopher Pyne
Tony Abbott
don’t
offer
alter
nativ
es
high tax bracket
spoil
t whit
e tras
hwe
althie
s cou
ntrie
s
huge tax cut
boss
es
tax free threshold
electr
icity
tax
world
progressive taxhigher income
oxyg
enpe
nsion
incre
ases
minimum wagewage
clima
te ch
ange
Glob
al wa
rming
self funded retirees
capit
a car
bon e
miss
ion
ination rate
stimulous payments
Carb
on di
oxide
BOM
addit
ion fo
ssil f
uels
Natu
ral g
as
NOAAIPCC
clean
energ
y
NASA
gas t
urbin
eEn
ergy s
ource
s
national civic council
carb
on tr
ading
legis
lation
medicareClean Energy Future
IR po
licy
ETS
hard work
gas t
urbin
e bus
iness
anti carbon people
proti
t marg
ins
future generationsmanic laughs
supe
r pro
tsIra
q
long runcommon usage
Afgh
anist
an
news limited
Sydn
eyDu
bai
special bent
Europ
e
literary warnings
USA
mass dupability
supe
r pro
ts tax
true hijackingolocaust deniers
actio
n paln
tax
tricky attempt
walth r
edist
ributi
on ta
x
carbo
n tax
deba
te
societysanctimonious hypocricy
tax cu
tstax
private school
Rudd
welfarelong term support
Gregg C
ombet
direct actions
labor
govern
ment
prime m
inister
Bob HawkinsBrad Collis
Australia
n labor p
arty
government
Sheeze
Coalition government
Samuelson
right w
ing ratbags
UNIoakeshott
good opposition leader
liberal party sta
nds
Michael Cunningham
Abbott stra
tegy
carbon
election campaign Abbott
business
small tax
right wing nutters
right wing
carbon tax comment
minerals councils
Tony Abbott comedy
Arthur Sinodinos
climate change commission
Reith
Clean energy future
Tony Abbott
clean energy bill
clean energy
minority government
Liberal party of Australia
energy sources
pure beleaguered voting
employments opportunities
sceptics
insurance premiums
hip pocket
free trade
direct action
global temperature
climate disasters
desperate man
climate change
pure ction
Global warming
desperate measures
policy
Kyoto protocol
cap-and-trade scheme
marines
wealth redistribution
carbon pricing laws
Youtube
ranging carbon price
Bogan
carbon pricing
POLITICAL DEBATE
POLITICAL ACTS
NON POLITICAL OPINIONS
POPULAR REACTIONS
E
XTRA
-AU CH
RONI
CLES
61 words
51 words
66 words
64 words
68
words
13
13
7
6
6
3 3
3 2 2 2 1 24
4 4
4
3
3 3 2 2 1 1 1
13
9
8
6
6 6
4 3
3 3 2 1 1
26
7 6 5 5 4
2 2 1
1 1 1
14
13
7
6
6
5
6
4
4
2
1
PRO
Obama
emissions trading
Tony Abbott
emission standard
Liberal policy
Climate change
Turnbull
Global warming
prime minister Julia Gillard
LiberalsTony Abbott
national party
Mr No
greens
Bre’r Abbott
Labor party
entire payroll tax
socialistGillard government
domestic carbon tax
Howard government
coal tax
Howard
a carbon tax
Labor party
marketcoal industry
Miss GillardWestern Europe
coal exportersmining australian coal
JapanNorth America
australian coal exports
UKRupert Murdochclean energy nance
SingaporeMelbourne
renewablenuclear power
India
clean energy
China
energy sources
carbon footprint
USA
capita carbon emissionlowest carbon dioxide
Wstern Australia Europe
carbon pollution
South Australia
pollutiongreenhouse gas
Victoria
fuel emission
China total domestic emissions
carbon dioxidelittle obfuscation
Co2 production coal seam gas
honourable thingcompetitive advantage
carbon emission
global
GHG carbon dioxide
guilty conciences
emission reduction strategy
extensive public consultation
industrial revolution
regulation pricing carbon
trading scheme
good thing
carbon price
negligible bene tplanet
coal ban treaty
cleaner
emission tradingKyoto protocol
tsunamienergy bills
brown dirty coalaustralian coal supply
UKGillard government
chinese coal
life insurance
fuel coal plant capacity
biggest carbon tax
pigovian tax
pollution belching coal
australian coal
sulpher oxidecarbon dioxide
CNG coal plants
medicare threshold
medicare
natural gascoal mining
ATI
fossil fuel
colder climate
coal
climate science
prime minister
global warming
state government
brown coal
dirtiest p
ower station
clown act
long time
carbon
Abraham Lincoln
Murdoch media
massive mining companies
Jimmy Carter
conservative radio media
Hazelwood
Murdoch
Tea Party
trading co
ncept
federal parliament
carbon
price
libertarian cato insitute
emiss
ion tra
ding
energy
energy efciency
Kyoto P
rotoco
l
energ
y ef cie
nt
University od Colorado
low em
ission
tech
nolog
y
Guy Pearce
greate
st ren
ewab
le reso
urces
Gillard government
Mc Mansion
small
er cle
an ge
nerat
ors
bipart
isan s
uppo
rt
fossil fuels
clean energy
outst
andin
g exam
ple
powe
rful e
nemies
Israel
little
pigs
Melbourne
bette
r Aus
tralia
climate change
signi
cant
displa
y
global warming
carbon footprint
utter
nons
ense
Murdo
ch-A
bbott
spin
greenhouse gas emission
treme
ndou
s boo
m
carbon dioxide
carbon pricing
bulls
hit po
litics
Kyoto Protocol
ignora
nt vi
ctims
low carbon economy
large
dista
nces
nake
d part
isan
emission trading
baby
boom
ers
Howard
high c
ertain
ty
Turnbulljust a one trick pony
don’t
belie
velon
g term
think
ing
Christopher Pyne
Tony Abbott
don’t
offer
alter
nativ
es
high tax bracket
spoil
t whit
e tras
hwe
althie
s cou
ntrie
s
huge tax cut
boss
es
tax free threshold
electr
icity
tax
world
progressive taxhigher income
oxyg
enpe
nsion
incre
ases
minimum wagewage
clima
te ch
ange
Glob
al wa
rming
self funded retirees
capit
a car
bon e
miss
ion
ination rate
stimulous payments
Carb
on di
oxide
BOM
addit
ion fo
ssil f
uels
Natu
ral g
as
NOAAIPCC
clean
energ
y
NASA
gas t
urbin
eEn
ergy s
ource
s
national civic council
carb
on tr
ading
legis
lation
medicareClean Energy Future
IR po
licy
ETS
hard work
gas t
urbin
e bus
iness
anti carbon people
proti
t marg
ins
future generationsmanic laughs
supe
r pro
tsIra
q
long runcommon usage
Afgh
anist
an
news limited
Sydn
eyDu
bai
special bent
Europ
e
literary warnings
USA
mass dupability
supe
r pro
ts tax
true hijackingolocaust deniers
actio
n paln
tax
tricky attempt
walth r
edist
ributi
on ta
x
carbo
n tax
deba
te
societysanctimonious hypocricy
tax cu
tstax
private school
Rudd
welfarelong term support
Gregg C
ombet
direct actions
labor
govern
ment
prime m
inister
Bob HawkinsBrad Collis
Australia
n labor p
arty
government
Sheeze
Coalition government
Samuelson
right w
ing ratbags
UNIoakeshott
good opposition leader
liberal party sta
nds
Michael Cunningham
Abbott stra
tegy
carbon
election campaign Abbott
business
small tax
right wing nutters
right wing
carbon tax comment
minerals councils
Tony Abbott comedy
Arthur Sinodinos
climate change commission
Reith
Clean energy future
Tony Abbott
clean energy bill
clean energy
minority government
Liberal party of Australia
energy sources
pure beleaguered voting
employments opportunities
sceptics
insurance premiums
hip pocket
free trade
direct action
global temperature
climate disasters
desperate man
climate change
pure ction
Global warming
desperate measures
policy
Kyoto protocol
cap-and-trade scheme
marines
wealth redistribution
carbon pricing laws
Youtube
ranging carbon price
Bogan
carbon pricing
POLITICAL DEBATE
POLITICAL ACTS
NON POLITICAL OPINIONS
POPULAR REACTIONS
E
XTRA
-AU CH
RONI
CLES
61 words
51 words
66 words
64 words
68
words
13
13
7
6
6
3 3
3 2 2 2 1 24
4 4
4
3
3 3 2 2 1 1 1
13
9
8
6
6 6
4 3
3 3 2 1 1
26
7 6 5 5 4
2 2 1
1 1 1
14
13
7
6
6
5
6
4
4
2
1
Obama
emissions trading
Tony Abbott
emission standard
Liberal policy
Climate change
Turnbull
Global warming
prime minister Julia Gillard
LiberalsTony Abbott
national party
Mr No
greens
Bre’r Abbott
Labor party
entire payroll tax
socialistGillard government
domestic carbon tax
Howard government
coal tax
Howard
a carbon tax
Labor party
marketcoal industry
Miss GillardWestern Europe
coal exportersmining australian coal
JapanNorth America
australian coal exports
UKRupert Murdochclean energy nance
SingaporeMelbourne
renewablenuclear power
India
clean energy
China
energy sources
carbon footprint
USA
capita carbon emissionlowest carbon dioxide
Wstern Australia Europe
carbon pollution
South Australia
pollutiongreenhouse gas
Victoria
fuel emission
China total domestic emissions
carbon dioxidelittle obfuscation
Co2 production coal seam gas
honourable thingcompetitive advantage
carbon emission
global
GHG carbon dioxide
guilty conciences
emission reduction strategy
extensive public consultation
industrial revolution
regulation pricing carbon
trading scheme
good thing
carbon price
negligible bene tplanet
coal ban treaty
cleaner
emission tradingKyoto protocol
tsunamienergy bills
brown dirty coalaustralian coal supply
UKGillard government
chinese coal
life insurance
fuel coal plant capacity
biggest carbon tax
pigovian tax
pollution belching coal
australian coal
sulpher oxidecarbon dioxide
CNG coal plants
medicare threshold
medicare
natural gascoal mining
ATI
fossil fuel
colder climate
coal
climate science
prime minister
global warming
state government
brown coal
dirtiest p
ower station
clown act
long time
carbon
Abraham Lincoln
Murdoch media
massive mining companies
Jimmy Carter
conservative radio media
Hazelwood
Murdoch
Tea Party
trading co
ncept
federal parliament
carbon
price
libertarian cato insitute
emiss
ion tra
ding
energy
energy efciency
Kyoto P
rotoco
l
energ
y ef cie
nt
University od Colorado
low em
ission
tech
nolog
y
Guy Pearce
greate
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ewab
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Gillard government
Mc Mansion
small
er cle
an ge
nerat
ors
bipart
isan s
uppo
rt
fossil fuels
clean energy
outst
andin
g exam
ple
powe
rful e
nemies
Israel
little
pigs
Melbourne
bette
r Aus
tralia
climate change
signi
cant
displa
y
global warming
carbon footprint
utter
nons
ense
Murdo
ch-A
bbott
spin
greenhouse gas emission
treme
ndou
s boo
m
carbon dioxide
carbon pricing
bulls
hit po
litics
Kyoto Protocol
ignora
nt vi
ctims
low carbon economy
large
dista
nces
nake
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isan
emission trading
baby
boom
ers
Howard
high c
ertain
ty
Turnbulljust a one trick pony
don’t
belie
velon
g term
think
ing
Christopher Pyne
Tony Abbott
don’t
offer
alter
nativ
es
high tax bracket
spoil
t whit
e tras
hwe
althie
s cou
ntrie
s
huge tax cut
boss
es
tax free threshold
electr
icity
tax
world
progressive taxhigher income
oxyg
enpe
nsion
incre
ases
minimum wagewage
clima
te ch
ange
Glob
al wa
rming
self funded retirees
capit
a car
bon e
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ination rate
stimulous payments
Carb
on di
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BOM
addit
ion fo
ssil f
uels
Natu
ral g
as
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clean
energ
y
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gas t
urbin
eEn
ergy s
ource
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national civic council
carb
on tr
ading
legis
lation
medicareClean Energy Future
IR po
licy
ETS
hard work
gas t
urbin
e bus
iness
anti carbon people
proti
t marg
ins
future generationsmanic laughs
supe
r pro
tsIra
q
long runcommon usage
Afgh
anist
an
news limited
Sydn
eyDu
bai
special bent
Europ
e
literary warnings
USA
mass dupability
supe
r pro
ts tax
true hijackingolocaust deniers
actio
n paln
tax
tricky attempt
walth r
edist
ributi
on ta
x
carbo
n tax
deba
te
societysanctimonious hypocricy
tax cu
tstax
private school
Rudd
welfarelong term support
Gregg C
ombet
direct actions
labor
govern
ment
prime m
inister
Bob HawkinsBrad Collis
Australia
n labor p
arty
government
Sheeze
Coalition government
Samuelson
right w
ing ratbags
UNIoakeshott
good opposition leader
liberal party sta
nds
Michael Cunningham
Abbott stra
tegy
carbon
election campaign Abbott
business
small tax
right wing nutters
right wing
carbon tax comment
minerals councils
Tony Abbott comedy
Arthur Sinodinos
climate change commission
Reith
Clean energy future
Tony Abbott
clean energy bill
clean energy
minority government
Liberal party of Australia
energy sources
pure beleaguered voting
employments opportunities
sceptics
insurance premiums
hip pocket
free trade
direct action
global temperature
climate disasters
desperate man
climate change
pure ction
Global warming
desperate measures
policy
Kyoto protocol
cap-and-trade scheme
marines
wealth redistribution
carbon pricing laws
Youtube
ranging carbon price
Bogan
carbon pricing
POLITICAL DEBATE
POLITICAL ACTS
NON POLITICAL OPINIONS
POPULAR REACTIONS
E
XTRA
-AU CH
RONI
CLES
61 words
51 words
66 words
64 words
68
words
13
13
7
6
6
3 3
3 2 2 2 1 24
4 4
4
3
3 3 2 2 1 1 1
13
9
8
6
6 6
4 3
3 3 2 1 1
26
7 6 5 5 4
2 2 1
1 1 1
14
13
7
6
6
5
6
4
4
2
1
28
UN
Gillard partyPaul Keating
top t
en po
lluter
s
Labor government
tax bi
g bus
iness
Juliar
busin
ess
gree
nhou
se ga
s emi
ssion
s
ALPGillard government
carb
on em
ission
Julia Gillard
carb
on di
oxide
gree
nhou
se ga
s
extremist
met ic
e melt
ing
wealth redistribution
globa
l watm
ing
my wife
sea l
evel
chronic diseasetreasury
clima
te ch
ange
emiss
ion st
anda
rd
The GFCRoss Garnaut
carb
on pr
icing
Wall Street Journal
carb
on cr
edit
federal government
emiss
ion tr
ading
Kyoto
proto
col
Their polluting waysbills
carbo
n trad
emi
norit
y part
y
single income family
LNP p
arty
lower income earnerspocket
wish
ful th
inking
Tony
higher income earners
libera
ls
lower income
Mr. N
oJo
e How
ard
high incomesingle income
Joe H
ocke
y
wage
libera
l gove
rnmen
t
oppo
sition
lead
er
low income
Tony
Aboo
t
income earnerspointless tax
point
less c
arbon
tax
carbo
n tax
schem
es
tax ratenew tax
mining
supe
r tax
mining
tax
stupid tax
tax
tax dollarstax system
co2 ta
x fraud
carbon tax
nonsense
income taxcarbon dioxide tax
deceitfu
l carbon tax
unwanted carbon tax
tax cuts
ridiculous c
arbon tax
tax payers
carbin tax betra
yal
taxationmethane
Juliarlabor government
climate change
Julia Gillard
global warming
patheticgovernment
IMF
taxobsessedgovernment
UNPauline Hanson
worstgovernment
inept government
Tony Abbott
the current prime minister
low carbon technologies
clean energy
coalition greatest strenghth
Australian labor party
wind turbines
business
Brazil
comcars
California
Charlton
industry
oil companies
Northern England
co2 emissions
AsiaIndia
greenhouse gas emissions
greenhouse gas
Goulburne
Japan
carbon dioxide
carbon credits
Canada
carbon price
Melbourne
emission standard
Chinahypocrites
Kyoto protocol
bad policies
emission trading
Indonesia
maternity leave
fools
China
legislation
Malesia
stupid
Canberra
show
GreeceEurope
massive debts
government sysrem
USAIndia
black holes
ppolicies
Julia Gillard
senate
Kevin
rainbow government
aussie government
labor government
treasuryObama
labor partyBob Brown
enough courage
greens
Canadian government
left government
IPCCco2 emissions
Comrad-Gillard
greenhouse gas
long timeplanet
carbon dioxidecivialian nuclear power
power station
nuclear plants
policydepression
nuclear power
Obama
Robert ReichJulia Gillard pentagon
a liar and turncoat
senate
net ice melt
parliament house
climate change
treasury
global warming
carbon tax asco
natural gas
iniquous carbon taxidiotic carbon tax
efcient coal plants fossil fuels
carbon tax nonsense
coal
highest carbon tax
extra household cost
wide carbon taxGST tax
extra household
taxes
fuel cost
so-called carbon tax
extra household expenses
smaller carbon tax
tonne tax income tax
carbon tax bungle
green tax
pointless carbon tax
carbon tax bill
new taxmining tax
higher taxes commercial nuclear power
methane gascarbon credit
commercial nuclear reactors
emission trading
european industryindustry
petrol companiesstanding orders
steel makers
super pro t
BG group
South Africa
MW nuclear plants
Spain
Origin EnergyQantas
Nigeria
Virgin Australia
USASidney
Michigan
Asia majors
Sidney
Africa
Ohio UK
price increaseretirement pensions
Asia
retirement options
India vancouver
higher costs
Curtis island
tax payers money
GDP
Wyoming
work choice
Europe USA
Joe Hockey
the Chinese
liberal government
carbon indulgies
LNP decision
cycling gravity variaton
minority government
Tony Abbott
poor fool voters
extra warming energy
Mel Brough
John Howard
prime minister
extra
LNP party
carbon tax component
trained workers
Elite
labor tax h
ike
carbon tax lie
Steven Levitt
Al Gore
carbon tax highlights
Mister Revkin
income tax
scam tax
Matt Ridley
Navy
ridicu
lous ta
x
mining
tax
Robert Reich
climate change
taxtax ob
sessed
gover
nmen
t
global warming
carbon emission
Prime M
iniste
r
Bob C
arr
carbon dioxide
CSIRO
Bob H
awke
social
ist
IPCC medicare
corru
pted g
overnm
ent
Adam
Band
t
IPCC report
labor
gover
nmen
t
carbon credit
Gillar
d gov
ernmen
t
ETS Kyoto protocol
Bob B
rown
emission trading
Mr. J
enkin
s
Mr.No
Gillar
d/Brow
n gov
ernme
nt
Peter Costello
Julia
Gilla
rd
Malcolm Turnbull
Kevin
Rudd
liberals
austr
alian
labo
r part
y
Tony Abbott
highe
st of
ce
big polluters
polit
ical p
rincip
le
big business
rocke
t scie
nce
unsa
vour
y dea
l
businessQantas
cons
iderab
le inc
rease
three eco-crimilals
moral
princ
iple
top ten polluters
annu
um in
creas
e
dubio
us re
putat
ion
Hong KongDarwin
manip
ulativ
e man
oeuv
ering
legisl
ation
Greece
intern
ation
al me
asur
e
Brazil
cens
ure m
otion
India
Alan
Joyc
e
Europe
electr
icity
Melbourne
the b
esr t
hing
Sidney
the p
arlia
ment
greens government
16
11
11
11
10
6
4
4 3 1 16
15
9
8
7
7
3 2 1
14
10
9
8
5
4 4
3 2 2 2 1
11
11
10
8 8 6 5
4
4
2 2
14
13
9
5
4
4 3
3
3
3
1
79 words
69 words
64 words
70 words
62 w
ords
POLITICAL DEBATE
POLIT ICAL ACTS
NON POLITICAL OPINIONS
POPULAR REACTIONS
EX
TRA-AU
CHRO
NICLE
S
CONS
29
UN
Gillard partyPaul Keating
top t
en po
lluter
sLabor government
tax bi
g bus
iness
Juliar
busin
ess
gree
nhou
se ga
s emi
ssion
s
ALPGillard government
carb
on em
ission
Julia Gillardca
rbon
diox
idegr
eenh
ouse
gas
extremist
met ic
e melt
ing
wealth redistribution
globa
l watm
ing
my wife
sea l
evel
chronic diseasetreasury
clima
te ch
ange
emiss
ion st
anda
rd
The GFCRoss Garnaut
carb
on pr
icing
Wall Street Journalca
rbon
cred
it
federal governmentem
ission
trad
ingKy
oto pr
otoco
l
Their polluting waysbills
carbo
n trad
emi
norit
y part
y
single income familyLN
P part
y
lower income earnerspocket
wish
ful th
inking
Tony
higher income earnerslib
erals
lower incomeMr
. No
Joe H
oward
high incomesingle income
Joe H
ocke
y
wagelib
eral g
overnm
ent
oppo
sition
lead
er
low incomeTo
ny Ab
oot
income earnerspointless tax
point
less c
arbon
tax
carbo
n tax
schem
es
tax ratenew tax
mining
supe
r tax
mining
tax
stupid taxtax
tax dollarstax system
co2 ta
x fraud
carbon tax
nonsense
income taxcarbon dioxide tax
deceitfu
l carbon tax
unwanted carbon tax
tax cutsrid
iculous carbon tax
tax payerscarbin tax b
etrayal
taxationmethane
Juliarlabor government
climate changeJulia Gilla
rd
global warming
patheticgovernment
IMF
taxobsessedgovernment
UNPauline Hanson
worstgovernment
inept government
Tony Abbott
the current prime minister
low carbon technologies
clean energy
coalition greatest strenghth
Australian labor party
wind turbines
business
Brazilcomcars
California
Charlton
industry
oil companies
Northern England
co2 emissions
AsiaIndia
greenhouse gas emissions
greenhouse gas
Goulburne
Japancarbon dioxide
carbon credits
Canadacarbon price
Melbourneemission standard
Chinahypocrites
Kyoto protocol
bad policiesemission trading
Indonesia
maternity leave
foolsChina
legislationMalesia
stupidCanberra
showGreece
Europemassive debts
government sysremUSAIndia
black holes
ppoliciesJulia Gillard
senateKevin
rainbow governmentaussie government
labor government
treasuryObama
labor partyBob Brown
enough couragegreens
Canadian governmentleft government
IPCCco2 emissions
Comrad-Gillard
greenhouse gaslong timeplanet
carbon dioxidecivialian nuclear power
power station
nuclear plantspolicydepression
nuclear powerObama
Robert ReichJulia Gillard pentagon
a liar and turncoatsenate
net ice meltparliament house
climate changetreasury
global warmingcarbon tax asco
natural gasiniquous carbon taxidiotic carbon tax
efcient coal plants fossil fuelscarbon tax nonsense
coalhighest carbon tax
extra household cost
wide carbon taxGST taxextra household
taxesfuel cost
so-called carbon taxextra household expenses
smaller carbon taxtonne tax income tax
carbon tax bunglegreen tax
pointless carbon taxcarbon tax bill
new taxmining taxhigher taxes commercial nuclear power
methane gascarbon creditcommercial nuclear reactors
emission tradingeuropean industry
industry
petrol companiesstanding orders
steel makerssuper pro t
BG groupSouth Africa
MW nuclear plants
SpainOrigin Energy
Qantas
NigeriaVirgin Australia
USASidneyMichigan
Asia majorsSidney
AfricaOhio UK
price increaseretirement pensions
Asiaretirement options
India vancouver
higher costsCurtis island
tax payers money
GDPWyoming
work choiceEurope USA
Joe Hockeythe Chinese
liberal government
carbon indulgies
LNP decisioncycling gravity variaton
minority government
Tony Abbottpoor fool voters
extra warming energy
Mel Brough
John Howardprime minister
extra
LNP party
carbon tax component
trained workers
Elite
labor tax h
ike
carbon tax lie
Steven Levitt
Al Gore
carbon tax highlights
Mister Revkin
income tax
scam taxMatt Ridley
Navy
ridicu
lous ta
x
mining
tax
Robert Reich
climate change
taxtax ob
sessed
gover
nmen
t
global warming
carbon emission
Prime M
iniste
r
Bob C
arrcarbon dioxide
CSIRO
Bob H
awke
social
istIPCC medicare
corru
pted g
overnm
ent
Adam
Band
tIPCC report
labor
gover
nmen
tcarbon credit
Gillar
d gov
ernmen
tETS
Kyoto protocol
Bob B
rown
emission trading
Mr. J
enkin
sMr.No
Gillar
d/Brow
n gov
ernme
nt
Peter Costello
Julia
Gilla
rdMalcolm Turnbull
Kevin
Rudd
liberals
austr
alian
labo
r part
yTony Abbott
highe
st of
cebig polluters
polit
ical p
rincip
lebig business
rocke
t scie
nce
unsa
vour
y dea
lbusinessQantas
cons
iderab
le inc
rease
three eco-crimilals
moral
princ
iple
top ten polluters
annu
um in
creas
e
dubio
us re
putat
ionHong KongDarwin
manip
ulativ
e man
oeuv
ering
legisl
ation
Greece
intern
ation
al me
asur
eBrazil
cens
ure m
otion
India
Alan
Joyc
e
Europe
electr
icity
Melbourne
the b
esr t
hing
Sidney
the p
arlia
ment
greens government
16
11
11
11
10
6
4
4 3 1 16
15
9
8
7
7
3 2 1
14
10
9
8
5
4 4
3 2 2 2 1
11
11
10
8 8 6 5
4
4
2 2
14
13
9
5
4
4 3
3
3
3
1
79 words
69 words
64 words
70 words
62 w
ords
POLITICAL DEBATE
POLIT ICAL ACTS
NON POLITICAL OPINIONS
POPULAR REACTIONS
EXTR
A-AU CH
RONIC
LES
30
This visualization is an integration of the previous one, in fact
it provides a direct comparison between the two poles pro and
cons, showing how the same topic can have a more considerable
semantic variability in a pole more than in the other. It can also
be easily seen a direct comparison between different topic in
the same pole.
#3 SEMANTIC PEAKSpart 3- visualization
PRO
CONS
31
32
These graphs show, for each category, the fluctuation of relevan-
ce average of the topics, directly comparing pro and cons. The
goal is to understand in which side the words extracted in the
semantic analysis are more or less relevant.
#4 RELEVANCEpart 3- visualization
political debate
01
0,688
954 0,7
6568
72
0,549
5436
3
0,248
339
0,473
0787
2
0,6130
989
0,607
2623
3
0,3113
9223
0,487
23133
0,462
5528
2
0,376
2751
7
0,358
6763
6
0,248
482
0,267
0643
3
0,261
0781
5
0,4126
04
0,166
6451
4
0,492
2675
0,348
631 0,4
2790
175
0,318
3236
7
0,275
6675
The second visualization points out categories inside pro and in-
side cons, in order to allow, varying the research question, the
choice of the most suitable variables..
33
popular reactions
10
0,290
4652
0,194
7815
0,324
357
0,575
914
0,525
474
0,203
3963
8
0,607
876
0,368
9701
7
0,539
7898
0,177
3812
0,5125
9958
0,700
269
0,478
4282
5
0,355
6295
0,335
079
0,346
8946
5
0,4215
1733
0,406
082
0,370
9126 0,4
5414
98
0,404
39
0,6171
834
0,351
7277
1
0,338
4878
3
34
extra-Au chronicles
0,262
268
0,308
001
0,436
4635
6
0,378
0886
0,254
21021
0,5110
175
0,223
51122
0,4177
01
0,384
40317
0,4218
3871
0,394
9657
5
0,388
3307
2
0,324
357
0,370
5923
0,238
675 0,3
3341
65
0,476
366
0,228
636
0,338
12038
0,295
2685
4
0,367
9915
0,505
1973
3
0,466
21325
0,475
8235
8 0,564
4705
0,3119
55
0,537
889 0,6
1993
467
0,390
7742
5
0,551
673
0,354
4483
3
political acts
0,338
4878
3
01
35
0,388
3307
2
0,324
357
0,370
5923
0,238
675 0,3
3341
65
0,476
366
0,228
636
0,338
12038
0,295
2685
4
0,367
9915
0,505
1973
3
0,466
21325
0,475
8235
8 0,564
4705
0,3119
55
0,537
889 0,6
1993
467
0,390
7742
5
0,551
673
0,354
4483
3
political acts
0,338
4878
3
01
non-political opinions0
1
0,601
539
0,337
7226
4
0,199
354
0,334
4389
0,602
129
0,554
0624
0,279
3702
0,583
0877
5
0,401
4377
5
0,633
552
0,165
2945
0,452
245
0,298
21938
0,320
386
0,987
159
0,336
3876
7
0,3172
3343
0,310
12
0,299
182
0,425
5355
0,293
7433
3
0,488
9861
3
0,327
777 0,4
13686
63
0,304
69
36
popu
lar re
actio
n
polit
ical a
cts
extra
-Au c
hron
icles
non-
polit
ical o
pinion
polit
ical d
ebate
0,700
269
0,367
9915
0,262
268
0,298
21938 0,3
7627
517 0,4
7842
825
0,308
001
0,320
386
0,358
6763
6
0,355
6295
0,505
1973
3
0,436
4635
6
0,987
159
0,248
482 0,3
5172
771
0,354
4483
3
0,304
69
0,335
079
0,466
21325
0,378
0886
0,336
3876
7
0,267
0643
3
0,346
8946
5 0,475
8235
8
0,254
21021
0,3172
3343
0,261
0781
5
0,4215
1733
0,564
4705
0,5110
175
0,310
12
0,4126
04
0,406
082
0,3119
55
0,223
51122 0,2
9918
2
0,166
6451
4
0,370
9126
0,537
889
0,394
9657
5
0,425
5355 0,4
9226
75
0,338
4878
3 0,338
4878
3
0,293
7433
3
0,348
631
0,454
1498
0,619
9346
7
0,4177
01 0,488
9861
3
0,427
90175
0,404
39
0,390
7742
5 0,384
40317
0,327
777
0,318
3236
7
0,6171
834
0,551
673
0,4218
3871
0,4136
8663
0,275
6675
relevance PRO
01
37
popu
lar re
actio
n
polit
ical a
cts
extra
-Au c
hron
icles
non-
polit
ical o
pinion
polit
ical d
ebate
0,700
269
0,367
9915
0,262
268
0,298
21938 0,3
7627
517 0,4
7842
825
0,308
001
0,320
386
0,358
6763
6
0,355
6295
0,505
1973
3
0,436
4635
6
0,987
159
0,248
482 0,3
5172
771
0,354
4483
3
0,304
69
0,335
079
0,466
21325
0,378
0886
0,336
3876
7
0,267
0643
3
0,346
8946
5 0,475
8235
8
0,254
21021
0,3172
3343
0,261
0781
5
0,4215
1733
0,564
4705
0,5110
175
0,310
12
0,4126
04
0,406
082
0,3119
55
0,223
51122 0,2
9918
2
0,166
6451
4
0,370
9126
0,537
889
0,394
9657
5
0,425
5355 0,4
9226
75
0,338
4878
3 0,338
4878
3
0,293
7433
3
0,348
631
0,454
1498
0,619
9346
7
0,4177
01 0,488
9861
3
0,427
90175
0,404
39
0,390
7742
5 0,384
40317
0,327
777
0,318
3236
7
0,6171
834
0,551
673
0,4218
3871
0,4136
8663
0,275
6675
relevance PRO
01
38
popu
lar re
actio
n
polit
ical a
cts
extra
-Au c
hron
icles
non-
polit
ical o
pinion
polit
ical d
ebate
0,290
4652 0,3
8833
072
0,473
122
0,337
7226
4
0,549
5436
3
0,177
3812
0,295
2685
4
0,165
2945
0,462
5528
2
0,228
636
0,487
9543
3 0,601
539
0,194
7815
0,323
406
0,199
354
0,248
339
0,589
291
0,452
245
0,324
357
0,324
357
0,376
2500
7
0,334
4389
0,473
0787
2 0,575
914
0,370
5923
relevance CONS
01
39
0,370
5923 0,4
3852
38
0,602
129
0,6130
989
0,203
3963
8
0,238
675
0,359
1865
8
0,279
3702
0,3113
9223
0,607
876
0,520
7592
5
0,583
0877
5 0,688
954
0,5125
9958
0,338
12038 0,4
2751
5 0,525
474
0,505
9823
3
0,554
0624
0,607
2623
3
0,368
9701
7
0,333
4165
0,366
5256
7
0,401
4377
5 0,487
23133
0,539
7898
0,476
366
0,448
352
0,633
552
0,765
6872
#5 PROMINENCE part 3- visualization
The importance of this graph is its being summarizing and dou-
ble-readable. In fact, it allows a multiple comparison between
the two poles pro and cons, topics and categories. If in the cen-
tral bar it can be found the overall flows of topic, the polarity on
the sides allows to understand how these flows are divided and,
at the same time, to also have a singular vision inside the topics
of one specific category, made more easily understandable with
bar charts. This way, it can be considered a summary and a dee-
pening of the previous visualizations. Is goal is to express the va-
lue of “prominence” of the topics inside categories, weightening
word count and relevance.
8,113,155,6
5,65,2
38,5140,9
13,4
1515,313,862,5
29,7
36,6
20,8
223,9
83,427,852,3
16,4
12,7
36,3
6,1
19,7
43,2
10,9
27,1
7,2
15,4
40,6
32,9
9,4
22,1
30,1
76,4
37,4
29,1
9,1
5,7
31,7
8,6
15,7
6,3
5
30,6
28,3
13,6
38,6
37,6
43,3
43,4
14
14,2
37
36,5
12,3
16,1
17,4
58
21,1
34,8
3,1
95,8
8,352,3
9,421,26,252,3
3,375,2
35,4
31,528,55,285
47,3
23,2
34,9
24,2
75,3
62,6
33,2
47,5
84,4
22,9
69,8
90,5
131,7
48,3
46,8
12,7
5,2
34,2
80,6
34,3
27,6
12,3
31,6
25,1
19,3
53,2
38,8
30,8
49,5
13,8
7,2
23,1
15
17,3
24,5
26,2
17,4
36,4
25,2
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
PRO
CONS
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
8,113,155,6
5,65,2
38,5140,9
13,4
1515,313,862,5
29,7
36,6
20,8
223,9
83,427,852,3
16,4
12,7
36,3
6,1
19,7
43,2
10,9
27,1
7,2
15,4
40,6
32,9
9,4
22,1
30,1
76,4
37,4
29,1
9,1
5,7
31,7
8,6
15,7
6,3
5
30,6
28,3
13,6
38,6
37,6
43,3
43,4
14
14,2
37
36,5
12,3
16,1
17,4
58
21,1
34,8
3,1
95,8
8,352,3
9,421,26,252,3
3,375,2
35,4
31,528,55,285
47,3
23,2
34,9
24,2
75,3
62,6
33,2
47,5
84,4
22,9
69,8
90,5
131,7
48,3
46,8
12,7
5,2
34,2
80,6
34,3
27,6
12,3
31,6
25,1
19,3
53,2
38,8
30,8
49,5
13,8
7,2
23,1
15
17,3
24,5
26,2
17,4
36,4
25,2
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
PRO
CONS
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
41
8,113,155,6
5,65,2
38,5140,9
13,4
1515,313,862,5
29,7
36,6
20,8
223,9
83,427,852,3
16,4
12,7
36,3
6,1
19,7
43,2
10,9
27,1
7,2
15,4
40,6
32,9
9,4
22,1
30,1
76,4
37,4
29,1
9,1
5,7
31,7
8,6
15,7
6,3
5
30,6
28,3
13,6
38,6
37,6
43,3
43,4
14
14,2
37
36,5
12,3
16,1
17,4
58
21,1
34,8
3,1
95,8
8,352,3
9,421,26,252,3
3,375,2
35,4
31,528,55,285
47,3
23,2
34,9
24,2
75,3
62,6
33,2
47,5
84,4
22,9
69,8
90,5
131,7
48,3
46,8
12,7
5,2
34,2
80,6
34,3
27,6
12,3
31,6
25,1
19,3
53,2
38,8
30,8
49,5
13,8
7,2
23,1
15
17,3
24,5
26,2
17,4
36,4
25,2
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
PRO
CONS
polit
ical d
ebat
epo
pular
reac
tion
polit
ical a
ctno
n-po
litica
l opin
ions
extra
-au ch
ronic
les
CONS
PART 4case study
44
Obam
a
pension increasesclimate changeGlobal warming
capita carbon emissionCarbon dioxide
addition fossil fuelsNatural gas
clean energygas turbine
Energy sources
carbon trading legislationIR policy
ETS
gas turbine business
protit margins
super profitsIraq
AfghanistanSydney
Dubai
EuropeUSA
super profits tax
action paln tax
walth redistribution tax
carbon tax debate
tax cutstaxRudd
Gregg Combet
labor government
prime minister
Australian labor party
government
Coalition government
right wing ratbags
good opposition leader
liberal party stands
Abbott strategy
election campaign Abbott
right wing nutte
rsrig
ht wing
Tony Abbott c
omedy
Arthur Sinodinos
ReithTony A
bbott
minority gover
nment
Libera
l party o
f Austr
alia
pure
beleag
uered
voting
scepti
csfre
e trad
edir
ect ac
tion
despe
rate m
anpu
re fic
tion
desp
erate
measu
respo
licy
marine
s
wealt
h red
istrib
ution
Youtu
beBo
gan
13
13
7
6
6
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
POLITICAL DEB
ATE
61 word
s
CASE-STUDY
In order to reach the research goals, it will now be analysed a case-study with
the attempt to verify if they are exhaustive and functionals. It has been chosen
to consider only one category, specifically “Political debate” and analyse how it
can be used as a basis to answer to the research questions.
1. What do users think about carbon tax?
p o l i t i c a l d e b a t e ’ s t o p i c
11 lin
ks
POLITICAL DEBATE
15 55 51 32 197 15556
As the first graph shows, the analysed comments sharply express
the opposition of users to carbon tax (197 vs 56), being them more
than double of the users that on the other hand, are in favour to it.
Corpus remains even bigger subsequently to the semantic analysis
in which, after a manual cleaning of pointless words, they have been
analysed 79 for cons and 61 for pros.
Obam
a
pension increasesclimate changeGlobal warming
capita carbon emissionCarbon dioxide
addition fossil fuelsNatural gas
clean energygas turbine
Energy sources
carbon trading legislationIR policy
ETS
gas turbine business
protit margins
super profitsIraq
AfghanistanSydney
Dubai
EuropeUSA
super profits tax
action paln tax
walth redistribution tax
carbon tax debate
tax cutstaxRudd
Gregg Combet
labor government
prime minister
Australian labor party
government
Coalition government
right wing ratbags
good opposition leader
liberal party stands
Abbott strategy
election campaign Abbott
right wing nutte
rsrig
ht wing
Tony Abbott c
omedy
Arthur Sinodinos
ReithTony A
bbott
minority gover
nment
Libera
l party o
f Austr
alia
pure
beleag
uered
voting
scepti
csfre
e trad
edir
ect ac
tion
despe
rate m
anpu
re fic
tion
desp
erate
measu
respo
licy
marine
s
wealt
h red
istrib
ution
Youtu
beBo
gan
13
13
7
6
6
3
3
3
2
2
2
1
POLITICAL DEB
ATE
61 word
s
pro
2. How and in which form (language) do users express their opinion?
cons
Observing the main topic for each category it can be inferred that generally
in cons’ argumentations there are a lot of comparisons with other realities deeply
involved in the carbon tax controversy, because geography is the prevailing topic.
In the same way, it can be observed that in the pro group the biggest topic
is the one referring to the opposition party, and subsequently it can be inferred
that the main fields of the argumentation were about politics.
With a further topic, for example the one about taxations, they can be pointed
out the differences between words typologies: in the pro group prevail personal
name, while among cons group prevail adjectives, used to negatively
characterize an unpopular tax.
UNtop ten polluterstax big businessbusiness greenhouse gas emissionscarbon emissioncarbon dioxidegreenhouse gasmet ice meltingglobal watmingsea levelclimate changeemission standardcarbon pricingcarbon creditemission tradingKyoto protocolcarbon trademinority partyLNP partywishful thinking Tony
liberalsMr. NoJoe HowardJoe Hockeyliberal government
opposition leader
Tony Abootpointless carbon tax
carbon tax schemes
mining super tax
mining taxtaxco2 tax fraud
carbon tax nonsense
deceitful carbon tax
unwanted carbon tax
ridiculous carbon tax
carbin tax betrayal
Juliarlabor government
Julia Gillard
atheticgovernment
tax obsessed government
worstgovernment
inept government
the current prim
e minister
coalition greatest s
trenghth
Australian labor p
arty
BrazilCalif
ornia
Charlton
Northern
Engla
nd
AsiaIndiaGou
lburne
Japa
n
Cana
da
Melbou
rne
Chinahy
pocri
tes
bad p
olicie
s
materni
ty lea
ve
foolsleg
islati
on
stupidshowma
ssive
debts
gove
rnme
nt sys
rem
black
holes
polic
iesse
nate
rainb
ow go
vern
ment
treas
ury
Obam
aen
ough
cour
age
Cana
dian g
overn
ment
16
11
11
11
10
6 4 4 3 1
POLITICAL DEBATE
79 words
1 link2 link
3 link
4 link
The categories (political debate_pro and political debate_cons) extracted from count graphs show the semantic variety
inside categories. Summarized with cirles of different sizes according to the number of connection the word has,
it is clear to point out how among the cons there is a less semantic variety: in fact, the words used are the same used
in other categories. It can also be notices that in the cons group, even if it has a bigger number of words, there is a smaller
number of topics: it results in a reduced semantic variation and a reduced topics amount.
46
3) Which are the topics users use on support to their thesis?
Whilst cons comments seem to be penalized, due to their reduces
semantic variability, with an observation
of the relevance graph the situation seem to favour them:
in all the topics the cons comments are more relevant that the pro
ones, particularly in the fields of emissions, climate change and
protocols. It has, though, to be underlined
their lack of topics such as energies and fuels,
like argumentations seem to stop at a level of criticizing
the emission problem without suggesting a solution.
political debate0
1
0,376
2751
7
0,358
6763
6
0,248
482
0,267
0643
3
0,261
0781
5
0,4126
04
0,166
6451
4
0,492
2675
0,348
631 0,4
2790
175
0,318
3236
7
0,275
6675
3,1
95,8
47,3
62,6
69,8
46,8
12,3
38,8
23,1
26,2
polit
ical d
ebat
e
CONS
47
8,1
13,1
55,6
16,4
43,2
40,6
76,4
5,7
15,7
13,6
14
16,1
PROpo
litica
l deb
ate
To finally have a general vision on the problem and to compare the word count with
their relevance, it can be seen the prominence graph in which,
as expected, it can be seen in a more immediate way the comparison between pro
and cons and, taking in consideration a single flow,
compare the single values.
Obama
pension increases
climate change
Global warming
capita carbon emission
Carbon dioxide
addition fossil fuels
Natural gasclean energygas turbineEnergy sourcescarbon trading legislation
IR policyETSgas turbine businessprotit marginssuper profitsIraqAfghanistanSydneyDubaiEuropeUSA
super profits taxaction paln taxwalth redistribution taxcarbon tax debatetax cutstaxRuddGregg Combetlabor government
prime ministerAustralian labor partygovernmentCoalition government
right wing ratbagsgood opposition leader
liberal party stands
Abbott strategyelection campaign Abbott
right wing nutters
right wingTony Abbott comedy
Arthur Sinodinos
ReithTony Abbottminority
government
Liberal party of Australia
pure beleaguered voting
scepticsfree tra
dedirect action
desperate man
pure fiction
desperate measures
policymarines
wealth redistr
ibution
Youtube
Bogan
si
13
13
7
6
6
3
3 3 2 2 2 1POLITICAL DEBATE
61 words
Obama
pension increases
climate change
Global warming
capita carbon emission
Carbon dioxide
addition fossil fuels
Natural gasclean energygas turbineEnergy sourcescarbon trading legislation
IR policyETSgas turbine businessprotit marginssuper profitsIraqAfghanistanSydneyDubaiEuropeUSA
super profits taxaction paln taxwalth redistribution taxcarbon tax debatetax cutstaxRuddGregg Combetlabor government
prime ministerAustralian labor partygovernmentCoalition government
right wing ratbagsgood opposition leader
liberal party stands
Abbott strategyelection campaign Abbott
right wing nutters
right wingTony Abbott comedy
Arthur Sinodinos
ReithTony Abbottminority
government
Liberal party of Australia
pure beleaguered voting
scepticsfree tra
dedirect action
desperate man
pure fiction
desperate measures
policymarines
wealth redistr
ibution
Youtube
Bogan
si
13
13
7
6
6
3
3 3 2 2 2 1POLITICAL DEBATE
61 words
PART 5conclusion
50
According to the graphs the controversy pattern can be summa-
rized as follows:
Among those who say yes to carbon tax, the most relevant to-
pics are the ones related to the harmful effects of pollutants, to
the political actions, and to the fossil fuels. In fact the supporters
of this tax are very sensitive to environmental issues and global
warming, and think that carbon tax is the first step to clean the
planet from human’s pollution.
Looking at the relevances of the topics of carbon tax Cons, it has
been notice that people opposed to carbon tax would prefer an
action about clean energy and incentives for it, rather than pay
a tax that many persons can not afford.
As it’s analyzed in the case study, it is interesting to see that the
category Political Debate in the PRO side has a large number of
words related to the opposition party, and the opposers to car-
bon tax have a large number of words linked to the government
of Julia Gillard.
Analyzing the topic Popular Reactions is easy to see the dissa-
tisfaction related to tax and money: in many comments there
examples of families who describe their economic situation and
family size, and would not be able to support this tax.
CONCLUSIONpart 5 - conclusion
67,3%CONS 17,8
PRO
14,9
NR
51
CONCLUSION
Referring to the graph of the semantic variety, it has been no-
ticed that in the comments PRO carbon tax this aspect hardly
changes among the topics, but this that’s very different in the
CONS part: the topic TAXES has a high number of words, be-
cause users of NO prefer to talk about the negativity of taxation
in its varous aspects, writing a lot of impulsive and angry com-
ments.
There are many words also in the topic Majority Party, as many
are the invectives against the government, Julia Gillard, and
nicknames that users give to her.
The category determinate (the one with words that can not be
contained in any other category) is very remarkable in the topic
Political Act in the YES side. Words such as “long term thin-
king”, “do not offer alternatives”, “better Australia”, “wealthiest
countries” explain well the thoughts of users, who encourage to
think to a better future of our children, and believe that a re-
duction of CO2 is only possible with a choice that does not offer
alternatives: a political action requiring everyone to participate.
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