Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Series: Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers
Creation-Date: 2018-03-07
Number: 18-020/III
Author-Name: David E. Allen
Author-Email: profallen2007@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Sydney, Asia University, Edith Cowan University
Author-Name: Michael McAleer
Author-Email: michael.mcaleer@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Asia University, University of Sydney Business School, Yokohama National University
Author-Name: David M. Reid
Author-Email: davereid88@gmail.com
Author-Workplace-Name: Seattle University
Title: Fake News and Indifference to Truth: Dissecting Tweets and State of the Union Addresses by Presidents Obama and Trump
Abstract: State of the Union Addresses (SOUA) by two recent US Presidents, President Obama (2016) and President Trump (2018), and a series of recent of tweets by President Trump, are analysed by means of the data mining technique, sentiment analysis. The intention is to explore the contents and sentiments of the messages contained, the degree to which they differ, and their potential implications for the national mood and state of the economy. President Trump's 2018 SOUA and his sample tweets are identified as being more positive in sentiment than President Obama's 2016 SOUA. This is confirmed by bootstrapped t tests and non-parametric sign tests on components of the respective sentiment scores. The issue of whether overly positive pronouncements amount to self-promotion, rather than intrinsic merit or sentiment, is a topic for future research.
Classification-JEL: A1, C88, C44, Z0
Keywords: Sentiment Analysis, Polarity, Bootstrapped t tests, Sign tests,
File-Url: https://papers.tinbergen.nl/18020.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 435085 bytes
Handle: RePEc:tin:wpaper:20180020