Sentiment Analysis has been researched in a variety of contexts but in this thesis, the focus is on sentiment analysis in Twitter, which poses its own unique challenges such as the use of slang, abbreviations, emoticons, hashtags, and user mentions. The 140-character restriction on the length of tweets can also lead to text that is difficult even for a human to determine its sentiment. Specifically, this study will analyze sentiment analysis of bilingual (U.S. English and Spanish language) Tweets. The hypothesis here is that Bilingual sentiment analysis is more accurate than sentiment analysis in a single language (English or Spanish) when analyzing bilingual tweets. In general, currently sentiment analysis in bilingual tweets is done against an English dictionary. For each of the test cases in this thesis’ experiment we will use the Python NLTK sentiment package. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

I investigate whether or not a firm’s social network size (also known as social capital) impacts the quality of its information environment. Following social capital theory, I posit three potential channels that help bring an informational advantage to wellconnected firms. First, well-connected firms are likely to have timely access to a broader set of information that affords them the opportunity to disclose this information. Second, a social network fosters trust among social peers, which promotes the transfer of more accurate information within that network. Third, well-connected executives and directors have greater reputational capital at stake, which may encourage them to provide accurate information to the market. I provide evidence that well-connected firms have higher quality information environments. I further document that the beneficial impact of the firm’s social network size on the quality of the firm’s information environment is higher for complex firms. I also find that the beneficial effect of the firm’s social ties on the quality of the firm’s information environment is greater when the firm’s connections are in the same industry or are top executives or are industry leaders or are financiers in the capital markets. My study extends existing social network literature by investigating whether firm’s social connections to outside executives and directors impact the quality of the firm’s information environment. My paper focuses on the networking skills of the executives and directors and extends the literature on how executives’ and directors’ personal characteristics are important. Additionally, I respond to the call by Engelberg et al. (2013) to identify the mechanism by which a CEO’s network creates value to the firm and well-connected CEOs get paid higher compensation. This study also contributes to a growing debate in social network literature between social capital theory and agency theory. Finally, my study is important to the regulators and standard setters as they can provide further evidence on the impact of non-financial information on the information quality surrounding the firm. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

by Cheng Bing-yee, Banny. / Questionnaire in Chinese. / Thesis (M.S.W.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-151). / ABSTRACT --- p.11 / Chapter ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.14 / Chapter TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.18 / Chapter 2.1 --- Bereavement --- p.18 / Chapter 2.2 --- Stress --- p.24 / Chapter 2.3 --- Social support --- p.33 / Chapter 2.4 --- Quality of life --- p.43 / Chapter THREE --- THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK --- p.50 / Chapter 3.1 --- Conceptual definition of variables --- p.50 / Chapter 3.2 --- Relationship of the variables in this study --- p.54 / Chapter 3.3 --- Research questions and hypotheses of this study --- p.58 / Chapter FOUR --- METHODOLOGY --- p.60 / Chapter 4.1 --- Research design and sampling method --- p.60 / Chapter 4.2 --- Data collection operation --- p.61 / Chapter 4.3 --- Data analysis --- p.62 / Chapter 4.4 --- Measuring instrument --- p.62 / Chapter FIVE --- RESULTS --- p.67 / Chapter 5.1 --- Demographic characteristics --- p.67 / Chapter 5.2 --- Psychometric properties of the scales --- p.70 / Chapter 5.3 --- "Descriptive findings on stress of bereavement, social support, and quality of life" --- p.73 / Chapter 5.4 --- "Impact of demographic characteristics of the respondents on perceived stress, social support, and quality of life" --- p.103 / Chapter 5.5 --- "Relationships between stressor, perceived stress, social support and quality of life" --- p.106 / Chapter SIX --- DISCUSSION --- p.117 / Chapter 6.1 --- Discussion on methodology of this study --- p.117 / Chapter 6.2 --- Discussion on the results of the findings --- p.118 / Chapter 6.3 --- Limitations of the research --- p.130 / Chapter SEVEN --- CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION --- p.132 / Chapter 7.1 --- Recommendations for general practice --- p.132 / Chapter 7.2 --- Recommendations for bereavement services and program --- p.135 / Chapter 7.3 --- Further Research --- p.141

Predição de Links é uma área de pesquisa importante no contexto de Análise de Redes Sociais tendo em vista que predizer sua evolução é um mecanismo útil para melhorar e propiciar a comunicação entre usuários. Nas redes de coautoria isso pode ser utilizado para recomendação de usuários com interesses de pesquisa comuns. Este trabalho propõe um processo sistemático baseado em métricas não-dicotômicas para avaliação de predição de links em redes de coautoria, sendo considerada a definição de métodos para as seguintes tarefas identificadas: seleção de dados, determinação de novos links e avaliação dos resultados. Para seleção de dados definiu-se um sensor fuzzy baseado em atributos dos nós. O uso de composições fuzzy foi considerado para determinação de novos links _ponderados_ entre dois autores, adotando-se não apenas atributos dos nós, mas também a combinação de atributos de outros links observados. O link ponderado é denominado _qualidade da relação_ e é obtido pelo uso de propriedades estruturais da rede. Para avaliação dos resultados foi proposta a curva ROC fuzzy, que permite explorar os pesos dos links não apenas para ordenação dos exemplos. / Link prediction is an important research line in the Social Network Analysis context, as predicting the evolution of such nets is a useful mechanism to improve and encourage communication among users. In co-authorship networks, it can be used for recommending users with common research interests. This work proposes a systematic process based on non-dichotomic metrics for evaluation of link prediction in co-authorship networks considering the definition of methods for the following tasks: data selection, new link determination and result evaluation. Fuzzy sensor based on node attributes is adopted for data selection. Fuzzy compositions are used to predict new link weights between two authors, adopting not only attributes nodes, but also the combination of attributes of other observed links. The link weight called _relation quality_ is obtained by using structural features of the social network. The fuzzy roc curve is used for results evaluation, allowing us to consider the weights of the links and not only the ordering of examples.

This work offers a cross-cultural account of the “aging experience” for elderly in two regions of Bulgaria. It is an ethnographic study that explores the importance of sustained and new (or adapted) interpersonal relationships for elderly in a depopulating Northwestern Village and a small Southern Town and its surroundings in the Rhodope Mountains. Highlighting relationships with family, peers, and neighbors, the study documents how the elderly negotiate and strategize their well-being in spaces and networks increasingly occupied by members of their same age group and despite adversity such as permanently depleting populations. These elders manage to engage in creating and maintaining their networks for instrumental or salient support; participate in peer memberships and interactions for coping and belonging; and negotiate valued and new cultural and socioeconomic strategies and places for well-being. The study’s focus engages with theories of aging; psychosocial, anthropological, and sociological knowledge; and cross-disciplinary conceptions of how groups of people mediate relationships and issues affecting them. It underscores some Bulgarian elders’ engagement over disengagement, their nostalgia and coping, and pathways that lead to innovation and resiliency. The study also offers further insight into topics such as “aging in place” and the complexities of human experiences within a Bulgarian context that considers specific histories and processes such as post-socialism and out-migration. As such, the current work contributes to explorations of engaged and adaptive elders aging in place (particularly in relationship to out-migration and economic forces); to how overlapping histories and experiences create membership within age-cohorts; and on the ways that the elderly cope, adapt, and innovate when traditionally salient family networks are stretched because of economies, depopulation, or distance. Finally, this work occurs against the backdrop of an aging and depopulating landscape. Issues affecting Bulgaria and its elders include population loss and stages of demographic decline, declining or low fertility rates, and an increasingly aging population across the country but more so within villages. These and other problems have resulted in the elderly expressing isolation; feelings of loss; and economic, social, and personal woes. It has also resulted in the elderly being categorized as a particularly “vulnerable” group within the country, a term which runs the risk of placing them within a realm of complacency or marginalization. Even in extreme situations, many of the elderly I met in Bulgaria remained resourceful and resilient by sustaining or adapting relationships and practices, by creating moments and spaces for coping and companionship, and to meet their need as “still alive” in ways that challenge perceptions of vulnerability or marginality.

This dissertation examines the ways intimate partner violence (IPV) survivors' experiences of poverty, mental illness, social isolation, and gender inequality shape their opportunities to protect themselves and their children before, during, and after separating from abusive partners. Ethnographic research was conducted in three communities in the United States over two years. In each site I observed and interviewed women about their experiences of abuse and their attempts to achieve long-term security. I also observed and interviewed practitioners across a range of disciplines about their work with IPV survivors. The results of this study demonstrate that when women ended abusive relationships they often sustained a variety of losses related to their economic stability, social support, and access to their children. After leaving their batterers, many survivors faced debt, trauma, and protracted custody disputes that continued to disrupt their lives. However, the IPV interventions studied were routinely designed as though the collateral damage to an IPV survivor's life ended when she left her abuser. Interventions rarely accommodated survivors' post-separation social, economic, and parenting needs, and indeed, often placed additional strain on women's lives. As a result, the most disadvantaged survivors often found institutional resources in the domestic violence service system inaccessible, irrelevant, and at times counterproductive. This dissertation demonstrates that IPV is more than a series of isolated acts by individual people: it is the cause of many women's diminished agency and heightened suffering long after their abuse has ended.

Orientadora: Maria das Graças Bruno Marietto. / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC. Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia da Informação.

The purpose of the following essay is to study and explain how young adults use their social networks when it comes to finding a job. This study was conducted using nine semi-structured interviews with young adults with some form of employment. We used Granovetter’s theory about strong and weak ties, Bourdieu’s capital theory, Lin’s social reources theory and Putnam’s reasoning about generalized reciprocity. The result shows that social capital is a decisive factor in how young individuals use their social contacts. The volume of social capital is determined by economic resources, social background and the size of the social network. Less resourceful groups have a tendency to take advantage of the strong ties, i.e. family and relatives, often when looking for their first job. The weak ties, i.e. acquaintances, are used later in life when the individual has greater resources and networks. Individuals from the privileged groups may not always be able to work on their parents’ company as a first job, because they might require certain qualifications to do so. However, these job positions become possible for the young individuals from resourceful groups when they accomplish a relevant education. That's when they get the chance to use the resources that are embedded in their strong ties.

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This diploma thesis outlines the ways of efficient marketing use and performance measurement of social networks by FMCG companies. The first chapter defines the concewpt of social networks, describes their benefits for company marketing and introduces the major world and Czech social networks. The second chapter is dedicated to the current most important social network, Facebook. The sub-chapters are covering structure and creation of a fan page, main principles of page management, post planning, aplications, ads, social graph and Facebook advertising policies. Main attention is given to the content of a fan page. the third chapter introduces the marketing potential of Youtube.The fourth chapter features the options of social networks performance measurement. The second half of the work introduces the marketing strategy on social networks for the company Nutricia a.s.