Randazzo Casey, Shugars Sarah, Acosta Rachel M, Doerfel Marya
Department of Communication, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, United States.
Front Res Metr Anal. 2024 Dec 2;9:1417990. doi: 10.3389/frma.2024.1417990. eCollection 2024.
Semantic network analysis is an important tool researchers can use to untangle the knots of tension that arise as communities debate and discuss complex issues. Yet words connect not only to each other in community discourse but to larger themes or issues.
In this paper, we demonstrate the use of multilayer analysis for the study of semantic networks, helping to unravel connections within and between community tensions. In examining knotted tensions that arise in the wake of disaster, this study also spotlights how climate disasters exacerbate issues like housing equity, disproportionately affecting lower-income communities. We examine discourse across eight months of online neighborhood threads about community issues in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. We identify core tensions related to environmental sustainability, overdevelopment, neighborhood identity preservation, and economic vitality. Our within-tension analysis reveals the community's struggle with such dilemmas, while our between-tension analysis shows the interconnectedness of these issues. Our approach highlights which stakeholders are best positioned to address specific community problems.
The findings challenge the conventional top-down disaster response narrative, proposing a theoretically informed method for employing semantic network analysis to examine community crises. Through this work, we extend organizational communication theories of knotted tensions, offering a nuanced lens to community discourse in the face of wicked problems.
语义网络分析是一种重要工具，研究人员可利用它来解开在社区辩论和讨论复杂问题时出现的紧张关系症结。然而，在社区话语中，词汇不仅相互关联，还与更大的主题或问题相关联。
在本文中，我们展示了如何使用多层分析来研究语义网络，有助于揭示社区紧张关系内部及之间的联系。在审视灾难后出现的纠结紧张关系时，本研究还突出了气候灾难如何加剧住房公平等问题，对低收入社区产生了不成比例的影响。我们研究了飓风艾达过后八个月里在线邻里讨论线程中有关社区问题的话语。我们确定了与环境可持续性、过度开发、邻里身份保护和经济活力相关的核心紧张关系。我们的紧张关系内部分析揭示了社区在这些困境中的挣扎，而紧张关系之间的分析则显示了这些问题的相互关联性。我们的方法突出了哪些利益相关者最有能力解决特定的社区问题。
研究结果挑战了传统的自上而下的灾难应对叙事，提出了一种理论上有据可循的方法，用于运用语义网络分析来审视社区危机。通过这项工作，我们扩展了纠结紧张关系的组织传播理论，为面对棘手问题时的社区话语提供了一个细致入微的视角。
