Research, a UK magazine on (you guessed it, Research) has an interesting debate regarding how to measure online consumer generated content (e.g. my blog posts).
Mark Westaby of Spectrum takes the side of automated measurement. Mike Daniels, director of media analysis firm Report International, takes the side of human analysis.
Here is a snippet:
Even if we did want to track every single conversation, [the] assertion that automated analysis can yield accurate and consistent measures of sentiment flies in the face of research we conducted recently among a global sample of developers, practitioners, academics and users of these tools. We found no system capable of delivering reasonable accuracy levels around sentiment – certainly nowhere near the levels needed for making business decisions.
We have found an enduring demand for human-based measurement programmes – humans can discriminate irony and sarcasm, they can interpret rules, not just follow them, and they are flexible in dealing with new topics and issues… certainly not computers’ strong points.
A truly fascinating debate. Read all of it here:
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