This paper presents an unsupervised opinion analysis method for debate-side classification, i.e., recognizing which stance a person is taking in an online debate. In order to handle the complexities of this genre, we mine the web to learn associations that are indicative of opinion stances in debates. We combine this knowledge with discourse information, and formulate the debate side classifica...

The constant emergence and change of technologies in the form of digital products and services can cause certain groups of the population to feel excluded, older adults represent one such group. We investigate how to combine applied research on computational models of argument and human-centric computing to impact the way in which older adults interact with broadcast debates. This paper describ...

International Journal of Management Reviews Volume 11 Issue 1 pp. 51–68 51 © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK IJMR nternational Journal of Management Reviews 1460-8545...

The paper analyzes the move of discrediting the opponent as a means to persuasion in political debates. After analysis of a corpus of political debates, a typology of discrediting strategies is outlined, distinguished in terms of three criteria: the target – the feature of the opponent specifically attacked (dominance, competence, benevolence); the route through which it is attacked – topic, mo...

We examine the power of silent constant-space probabilistic verifiers that watch asymmetric debates (where one side is unable to see some of the messages of the other) between two deterministic provers, and try to determine who is right. We prove that probabilistic verifiers outperform their deterministic counterparts as asymmetric debate checkers. It is shown that the membership problem for ev...