Article: A tool for the visualisation of public opinion Journal: International Journal of Electronic Governance (IJEG) 2013 Vol.6 No.3 pp.218 - 231 Abstract: The rise in popularity of the web and social media has significantly changed the way voters communicate and form their opinions. National governments are also affected by the hype of social media, so they launch new debate tools and open social platforms where citizens are able to communicate, collaborate and exchange opinions. When the amount of opinions increases, then it becomes difficult to process and interpret them manually. In this case, opinion-mining techniques and information visualisation tools can be employed to depict the public opinion and give comprehensive visual summaries. In this work, we present an information visualisation tool for surveys, which allows users to select from a variety of graphs, drill down to selected periods or roll-up to a larger scale and supports input from both closed-end and open-end questions. In the latter case, the tool employs opinion-mining techniques to quantify voter's opinion. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: A tool for the visualisation of public opinion

Authors: Konstantinos Soulis; Iraklis Varlamis; Andreas Giannakoulopoulos; Filippos Charatsev

Addresses: Informatics Development Agency, Ministry of Administrative Reform & Electronic Government, 2-4 Filoxenou & Spintharou, GR11636 Athens, Greece ' Department of Informatics and Telematics, Harokopio University of Athens, 70, El. Venizelou, GR17671 Athens, Greece ' Department of Audio and Visual Arts, Ionian University, GR49100 Corfu, Greece ' Department of Informatics and Telematics, Harokopio University of Athens, 70, El. Venizelou, GR17671 Athens, Greece

Abstract: The rise in popularity of the web and social media has significantly changed the way voters communicate and form their opinions. National governments are also affected by the hype of social media, so they launch new debate tools and open social platforms where citizens are able to communicate, collaborate and exchange opinions. When the amount of opinions increases, then it becomes difficult to process and interpret them manually. In this case, opinion-mining techniques and information visualisation tools can be employed to depict the public opinion and give comprehensive visual summaries. In this work, we present an information visualisation tool for surveys, which allows users to select from a variety of graphs, drill down to selected periods or roll-up to a larger scale and supports input from both closed-end and open-end questions. In the latter case, the tool employs opinion-mining techniques to quantify voter's opinion.

Keywords: open-source tools; opinion mining; opinion visualisation; public opinion; voting advice applications; information visualisation; visual summaries; surveys; voters; voter opinions; e-governance; electronic governance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEG.2013.058404

International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2013 Vol.6 No.3, pp.218 - 231

Received: 17 Aug 2012
Accepted: 27 Jun 2013
Published online: 22 Dec 2013 *

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Title: A tool for the visualisation of public opinion

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