A Framework For Experimental Evaluation of Opinion Diffusion Models

Abstract

Title: A Framework for Experimental Study of Opinion Diffusion Models Author: Dominik Jelínek institute: IUUK Supervisor: Martin Koutecký, IUUK Abstract: Our theoretical contribution centers on defining possible diffusion steps decreasing either Kendall-tau or Spearman's footrule distance between two bucket orders, which are orders with ties. These diffusion steps give us a new ability to work with, among others, election data where voters can specify any number of top preferences. From the practical contribution, we have developed an experimental framework specialized for working with bucket orders. The framework's easily extendable architecture provided by the usage of strategy design pattern allows for the generation and comparison of various models at a large scale. A part of a framework is an extensive list of important metrics and visualization techniques to observe and compare the behavior of different models. Keywords: bucket order, diffusion model, social network, framework, election iii