Perceiving Arctic Landscapes Through the Sentiment Analysis of Inuit Place Names

dc.contributor.advisorDawson, Peter
dc.contributor.authorHughes, Colleen
dc.contributor.committeememberOetelaar, Gerald
dc.contributor.committeememberLevy, Richard
dc.date2018-06-06
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-13T00:05:27Z
dc.date.available2018-01-13T00:05:27Z
dc.date.issued2018-01-03
dc.description.abstractLandscape archaeologists have debated for decades over the use of phenomenology as an archaeological method. The analysis of place names has formed an important part of landscape approaches. Sentiment analysis is a natural language processing computer software that evaluates digital texts for negative, neutral, and positive opinions and emotions. This software was chosen to inform a determination of how and if a phenomenological method could be achieved within landscape archaeology through the sentiment analysis of place names. Sentiment analysis was used to analyse over 600 Inuit place name descriptions from the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut. I explore how analyzing place names using sentiment analysis can be used as a way to understand the phenomenology of surrounding landscapes. The results of the analysis indicate that some place names reflect areas on the landscape which illicit strong positive and negative opinions and feelings. The polarity of these opinions is often associated with events that can be associated with hardship and tragedy, as well as success, wellness, and happiness. While archaeologists have used place names to place archaeological sites into a context and as a site prediction method, sentiment analysis shows little or no correlation between positive or negative opinions about the occupation of archaeological sites. This has significant implications for the use of toponymic archaeological interpretation.en_US
dc.identifier.citationHughes, C. (2018). Perceiving Arctic Landscapes Through the Sentiment Analysis of Inuit Place Names (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/5248
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1880/106250
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectLandscape Archaeologyen_US
dc.subjectSentiment Analysisen_US
dc.subjectPhenomenologyen_US
dc.subjectPlace Namesen_US
dc.subjectCaribou Inuiten_US
dc.subject.classificationAnthropologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationArchaeologyen_US
dc.subject.classificationAnthropology--Culturalen_US
dc.titlePerceiving Arctic Landscapes Through the Sentiment Analysis of Inuit Place Namesen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineArchaeologyen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
ucalgary.thesis.checklistI confirm that I have submitted all of the required forms to Faculty of Graduate Studies.en_US
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