Title: Intercultural problems in data analysis of national characters

Authors: Hajime Eto

Addresses: Graduate School of Management and Policy Sciences, The University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305, Japan; Nakano 3-43-17-305, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0001, Japan

Abstract: This paper investigates the intercultural conflict in the data analysis of national characters and values. Statistics is contradictory between the mathematically universal deduction method and the data-based induction, the latter of which often depends on the national way of thinking. This is particularly critical in analysing national values. A group of mathematical statisticians in Japan developed a set of statistical theories (called the quantification theories) in the process of analysing the data of Japanese behaviours, characters and values. But international statistical communities ignored the quantification theories as deviated from the worldwide stream of mathematical statistics, while the majority of behavioural scientists in Japan supported the quantification theories as suitable to the analysis of Japanese data, frequently used them, and evolved them from mathematical statistics techniques to data science and further to a rather general philosophy of informatics. This paper uses the bibliometric method to analyse this Japanese-specific informatics.

Keywords: behaviour; bibliometric analysis; cultural link analysis; data analysis; data science; intercultural information management; national character; quantification theory; social survey; statistics; intercultural conflict; national values; behavioural science; informatics; Japan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIIM.2010.037861

International Journal of Intercultural Information Management, 2010 Vol.2 No.3, pp.202 - 217

Published online: 31 Dec 2010 *

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