Showcase/Connotation Frames of Power and Agency
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Connotation Frames of Power and Agency

Annotate verbs for implied power and agency of participants. Based on Sap et al., EMNLP 2017. Capture how actions implicitly convey power dynamics and agency levels.

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text annotation

Configuration Fileconfig.yaml

# Connotation Frames of Power and Agency
# Based on Sap et al., EMNLP 2017
# Paper: https://aclanthology.org/D17-1247/
#
# Connotation frames capture how verbs implicitly project different
# levels of power and agency onto their participants.
#
# Key Concepts:
# - Agency: How much control/initiative does a participant have?
#   - High agency: "She decided", "He led"
#   - Low agency: "She was told", "He followed"
#
# - Power: Who has power over whom in the interaction?
#   - Agent has power: "She commands him"
#   - Theme has power: "She obeys him"
#   - Equal: "They collaborate"
#
# Applications:
# - Detecting gender bias in media portrayal
# - Analyzing power dynamics in narratives
# - Understanding implicit framing in text
#
# Annotation Guidelines:
# 1. Focus on what the VERB implies, not the sentence context
# 2. Consider: Does this verb make the doer seem active/passive?
# 3. Consider: Does this verb give the doer power over others?
# 4. Think about typical usage, not edge cases

port: 8000
server_name: localhost
task_name: "Power and Agency Frames"

data_files:
  - sample-data.json
id_key: id
text_key: sentence

output_file: annotations.json

annotation_schemes:
  # Step 1: Agency of the subject
  - annotation_type: radio
    name: agency
    description: "How much AGENCY (control, initiative) does the verb imply for the subject?"
    labels:
      - "High agency"
      - "Moderate agency"
      - "Low agency"
      - "Neutral"
    tooltips:
      "High agency": "The subject is active, in control, making decisions (e.g., 'decides', 'leads', 'creates')"
      "Moderate agency": "The subject has some control but within constraints"
      "Low agency": "The subject is passive, reactive, or acted upon (e.g., 'follows', 'receives', 'is told')"
      "Neutral": "The verb doesn't clearly convey agency level"

  # Step 2: Power dynamics
  - annotation_type: radio
    name: power
    description: "Who has POWER in the relationship implied by the verb?"
    labels:
      - "Subject has power"
      - "Object has power"
      - "Equal power"
      - "No power dynamic"
    tooltips:
      "Subject has power": "The subject dominates or controls the object (e.g., 'commands', 'criticizes')"
      "Object has power": "The object has power over the subject (e.g., 'obeys', 'serves')"
      "Equal power": "Neither has power over the other (e.g., 'collaborates', 'discusses')"
      "No power dynamic": "The verb doesn't imply a power relationship"

  # Step 3: Sentiment toward subject
  - annotation_type: radio
    name: subject_sentiment
    description: "Does the verb cast the subject in a positive or negative light?"
    labels:
      - "Positive"
      - "Neutral"
      - "Negative"
    tooltips:
      "Positive": "The verb portrays the subject favorably"
      "Neutral": "The verb is neutral toward the subject"
      "Negative": "The verb portrays the subject unfavorably"

  # Step 4: Confidence
  - annotation_type: likert
    name: confidence
    description: "How confident are you in your annotations?"
    min_value: 1
    max_value: 5
    labels:
      1: "Very uncertain"
      2: "Somewhat uncertain"
      3: "Moderately confident"
      4: "Confident"
      5: "Very confident"

allow_all_users: true
instances_per_annotator: 100
annotation_per_instance: 3
allow_skip: true
skip_reason_required: false

Sample Datasample-data.json

[
  {
    "id": "paf_001",
    "verb": "commands",
    "sentence": "The manager commands the team to finish the project."
  },
  {
    "id": "paf_002",
    "verb": "accepts",
    "sentence": "She accepts the decision made by the committee."
  }
]

// ... and 8 more items

Get This Design

View on GitHub

Clone or download from the repository

Quick start:

git clone https://github.com/davidjurgens/potato-showcase.git
cd potato-showcase/power-agency-frames
potato start config.yaml

Details

Annotation Types

radio

Domain

NLPPragmaticsSocial Analysis

Use Cases

Bias DetectionMedia AnalysisGender Studies

Tags

poweragencyconnotationframesemnlp2017bias

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