communication as a spatial problem
DESCRIPTION
space, communication, research, network analysis, sorin adam matei, purdueTRANSCRIPT
11/30/09 http://www.matei.org http://www.mentalmpas.info http://ww.visiblepast.com
Sorin A. Matei
Purdue University
Communication as a Spatial Problem: Methods
and Theories
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One spring day….
A long time ago, too long to mention…
I receive a letter
From USC
Dear Mr. Matei
We are glad to announce you that you have been accepted….
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Three months later, I am on the road…
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Philosophical assumptions
Space is constructed
Space is social
Space is a set of relationally defined locations
Space is about vicinities and the communication processes they enable Vicinity is that space defined by our communication
practices
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Space is of two kinds
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Space is of two kinds…
Space is everywhere
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Space is connections
Space is intangible Space is a set of network relationships Space is want we imagine space to be Space is social and communicative
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Looking at space from a meso- perspective How to (relatively) small scale communities exist in
space? What kind of space? How does communication intersect with space? How does this intersection matter?
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Integrity and viability of social spaces depends on communication infrastructures
Institutional: Media Channels Content: Group narratives, self-image, identity, perception of others,
perception of space
Communication infrastructure fosters a storytelling environment and a mental imagery of a place that
encourages residents to image themselves as a cohesive group
The communication infrastructure ceases to have a positive effect (integration) when it fosters fear and distrust – when it generates mental maps of fear especially during and after urban conflicts
Thematic assumptions. Three propositions
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How do you capture affective mental imagery (geographies of fear)?
How do you assess the spatial goodness of fit between mental maps of fear and objective spatial reality?
How do you detect the role of the communication infrastructure in constructing spatial images of fear?
Measuring communicative construction of space and fear
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Multilingual Telephone
Surveys
1812 Households LA
801 Lexington
699 Brasov
Communication Behavior
Media Connections
Belonging Index
Avoidance/Desirability
Demographics
LA Focus Groups
Community
Issues
Brasov/Lexington mail-out
Sociospatial Mapping
Of fear/Comfort
RESEARCH DESIGN
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LOS ANGELES STUDY AREAS REFERENCE MAP
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Paper and pencil map
Mental mapping Methodology
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COLOR KEY
Feared
Unknown
Cautious
Comfortable
Affective Maps of Los Angelesexampleexample
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COLOR KEY
Very feared = -2
Feared =- 1
Unknown = 0
Cautious = 1
Comfortable = 2
ArcView Map digitization
1
-1
2
0
Constructing a mental map
Note: Lexington & Brasov, added one color to balance scale
Average the maps using their similar pixel structure
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Los Angeles comfort composite map
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Lexington avoidance vs. desirability maps
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Brasov center-periphery geography of fear with focus on Gypsy/migrant worker area
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Research questionsSpatial Fear: Perceptions and Reality
General Is likelihood of crime victimization correctly represented in
people's geographic mental maps? Are social indicators of area desirability associated with fear? How do communication channels match avoidance/preference
goals and feelings in mapping avoidance/desirability? LA Specific
Are comfort and fear color-coded? What is the epicenter of fear in Los Angeles? What shaped the epicenter of fear in LA? (conflict related)
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LA findings: TV and interpersonal connector
maps
Suggest that strong connection to the communication
infrastructure increases fear
Fear greatest of Hispanic/Black populations
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LA violence and fear: The fear epicenter is situated in the 1965 riot hotspot
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LA: TV instills greater fear of Watts
Dependent on television Dependent on newspapers
People with strongest connections to television fear Watts the most
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Brasov vs. Lexingtongoals, avoidance, desirability, media
4344817411153Lexington
50530202523110Braşov
People related
37377154122513Lexington
2933121710152730Braşov
Instrumental
reasons
39458195115319Lexington
3340101411136915Braşov
Perceived place
qualities
49541639231664Lexington
274317252231345Braşov
PreferAvoidPreferAvoidPreferAvoidPreferAvoidSafety related
Other PeopleNewspapersTelevisionOverall Percent
•Americans > Romanians fear areas due to safety concerns
•Romanians > Americans prefer areas due to their perceived qualities (urban architecture, resources, etc.) •Romanians > Americans fear neighborhoods due to ethnic/cultural/social reasons
•Americans > Romanians prefer areas due to the quality of their people.
•Television affects the most perception of safety in both groups (as do newspapers and other people, but not significant under log linear testing)
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Conclusions/recommendations Perceptual redlining (LA, but NOT ONLY) Television creates and maintains image of fear Combination TV/interpersonal effect on maps of fear Television involved in proroguing images of past conflict Interpersonal communication heightens media effects
Recommendation It the TV, stupid! Education of television producers/station managers
TV constructs space TV dramatic coverage during urban conflict constructs fear TV constructs stereotyping even when it uses spatial labeling
Public/audience education Watch out what you are fearing! It might come true!
http://www.mentalmaps.info
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Looking at space from a macro-perspective What kind of spaces do telecommunication ties
describe? How do nations bunch together in this space? Over time, do we see a process of uniformization or
of fragmentation? Heterogenization vs. Homogenization?
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Research question
Three ways of asking the same question:
If we analyze flows of exchanges between nations, should we expect an increasing alignment of nations that share same cultural/civilizational characteristics?
Do nations that speak the same language or have the same beliefs send more information to one another?
Is there evidence of a “heterogenization” effect in technoscape?
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Data
2 who-to-whom matrices—networks—of international telephony ties between 107/110 nations (80% world population) – 1989 – 1999
Matrices define “telecommunicative neighbors” Countries are neighbors of each other if they send at least 5%
of their traffic to each other 5% threshold is based on analysis of tie distribution
Logarithmic A nation typically sends 80% of its outgoing traffic to 4
nations These nations typically absorb between 5 to 90% of the traffic
(average 35%), each All the other nations (109) absorb under 5%
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Data cntd.
Node attributes: cultural afilliation (linguistic): rated civilizational affiliation (religious): percentage
4 linguistic and 4 civilizational areals English French Arabic Spanish
Protestant
Catholic
Islamic
Buddhist-Hindu
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Statistical Analysis
Spatial correlation (Moran’s I)
Measures likelihood of countries that have high values on certain attributes to be surrounded by nations that are like them
Global and Local Versions
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Global Moran’s I
Global version: what is the magnitude of spatial association in the entire dataset?
0 - 1: Countries are systematically surrounded by nations with similar values on the key attribute
-1 - 0: Countries are systematically surrounded by nations with dissimilar values on the key attribute
0: No association
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Local Moran’s I
Magnitude of spatial association between each observation and its immediate neighbors
Values range between larger values
Compares the value of each observation with the average of the observations considered to be its neighbor
Produces cluster of “highest correlated” nations
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Results: Global values
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
0.60
0.70
0.80
English
French
Spanish
Arabic
Protestant
Catholic
Islam
BuddHindu
Cultural and civilizational areals
Mo
ran
's I
valu
e
1989
1999
Global Moran’s I values increase for all, except one areal, ArabicValue increases are significant (t-test for paired samples), except for the Islamic arealThere is an increasing tendency of countries that are similar culturally or civilizationally to cluster together in telecommunicative space
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Results: local values
Clusters are generally bigger in 1999; Overall more countries are + highly correlated with their neighbors in 1999 (9 join, 4 drop) Average values for cluster-level local correlations generally increase in 1999 (exception, English areal) Supporting evidence, the burden of the proof is on the global analysis
Clusters=Local moran value > 0 and significant
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Discussion
Evidence for heterogenization Countries of common cultural and civilizational heritage more
likely to be surrounded by their peers Small decline in English cluster size a fortiori evidence
Exception to the rule: Islamic & Arabic areals Arabic nations less likely to connect with each other (rich
nations leave poorer nations behind) Islamic nations stagnant (no sig diff) In these areals we can talk about a loss of local ties Signs for the backlash to come?
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Let’s have a conversation
How can we apply these methods to organizational communication?
How can we extend this paradigm? What kind of research issues would you address
with this toolkit?