The Sentiment Problem: A Critical Survey towards Deconstructing Sentiment Analysis
Pranav Narayanan Venkit, Mukund Srinath, Sanjana Gautam, Saranya, Venkatraman, Vipul Gupta, Rebecca J. Passonneau, Shomir Wilson

TL;DR
This paper critically examines the sociotechnical aspects of sentiment analysis, highlighting definitional ambiguities and proposing an ethics framework to promote equitable and interdisciplinary practices in the field.
Contribution
It provides a comprehensive review of sentiment analysis literature, identifies conceptual gaps, and introduces an ethics sheet to guide responsible application.
Findings
Lack of explicit sentiment definitions across domains
Potential biases due to definitional ambiguities
An ethics sheet to improve responsible sentiment analysis
Abstract
We conduct an inquiry into the sociotechnical aspects of sentiment analysis (SA) by critically examining 189 peer-reviewed papers on their applications, models, and datasets. Our investigation stems from the recognition that SA has become an integral component of diverse sociotechnical systems, exerting influence on both social and technical users. By delving into sociological and technological literature on sentiment, we unveil distinct conceptualizations of this term in domains such as finance, government, and medicine. Our study exposes a lack of explicit definitions and frameworks for characterizing sentiment, resulting in potential challenges and biases. To tackle this issue, we propose an ethics sheet encompassing critical inquiries to guide practitioners in ensuring equitable utilization of SA. Our findings underscore the significance of adopting an interdisciplinary approach to…
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Taxonomy
TopicsSentiment Analysis and Opinion Mining · Computational and Text Analysis Methods · Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence
