Contributions of Lexicometry to Perceptions about the Energy Transition

• Autor(a) principal: Marcela F. Albornoz
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Juan M. Paris
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: spa
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.36367/ntqr.14.2022.e589
• topic: Lexicometry; Energy Transition; Open Questions; Lexicometría; Transición Energética; Preguntas Abiertas

Within a research project, belonging to a University, that addresses problems related to the hydrocarbon industry; A survey is carried out during the month of September 2021, to investigate the perception of citizens regarding different issues related to the industry. The energy transition emerges as a solution to climate change, which is commonly associated with the use of fossil fuels. This research aims to investigate through vocabulary how these ideas are installed in people's minds. The answers to the open questions are analyzed: "Explain in your own words what you understand by energy transition", "What is your opinion about the energy transition?" and “Who should lead this change that leads to the energy transition?”, using the statistical analysis of textual data. These questions are part of a larger survey. The use of textual statistics in the analysis of answers to open questions provides information about what people think about it, since ideas are manifested through vocabulary. Additionally, this type of analysis allows differentiating and grouping the subjects, establishing categories that leave aside the subjectivity of the researcher. The R language is used, complementing it with the SPSS Statistics software. 188 surveys are analyzed in order to identify lexical differences and similarities between age groups. Through the use of Lexicometry, the words are contextualized by building contingency tables of the different groups. These characteristics identified in the lexicon are studied by Correspondence Factor Analysis applied to the aggregated lexical table. During this process, responses are not modified or categorized. This research allows us to determine what words are installed in people's minds regarding the energy transition and corroborates that there is a lexical difference in perceptions between different age groups.