과학기술이슈에 대한 일반인의 인식분석: 토픽모델링을 활용한 원자력발전 사례

The general public is a key stakeholder in the science and technology domain. However, traditional approaches require substantial efforts and resources to analyze how does the general public understand science and technology issues. We applied the topic modeling, a form of text clustering, to the texts about the nuclear power which were posted on an online space in order to explore the general public’s thoughts on the issue. This study investigates the extent to which macro-level events influence understandings of the general public on the science and technology issues and weather these changes in understandings are sustained over time. It examines the possibility of applying topic modeling in narrowing a perception gap between the general public and the experts through a near-real-time monitoring of the public interests and perceptions about the science and technology issues.