Temporal Sentiment Analysis of Relations between the BRICS Countries as Presented in Media of Russia, UAE, UK, and USA

This master's thesis, "Temporal sentiment analysis of relations between the BRICS countries as presented in media of Russia, UAE, UK, and USA," provides an investigation into media sentiment trends of BRICS nations' relations. The object of the study is the media coverage from Russia, UAE, UK, and USA, while the sentiment trends within this coverage and their implications form the subject matter. The introduction section lays out the research's relevance, scientific problem, and purpose. It also introduces the research hypotheses, objectives, and outlines the research methodology and empirical base. Chapter 1 offers a thorough background and related work, covering topics like the role of BRICS in international relations, the influence of media on these relations, sentiment analysis in media studies context, and reviews of research on BRICS. In Chapter 2, the methodology and research design are presented in detail. It explains the development of the conceptual framework, data processing, preparation procedures, application of temporal sentiment analysis, and the study's validation and reliability assessment. Chapter 3 encapsulates the results and comparative analysis. It contains sections on preliminary exploratory analysis of BRICS media coverage, sentiment trend analysis, comparison of sentiment trends in bilateral relations, and future research directions. The conclusion section summarizes key findings and their implications, aligns them with previous research, and discusses theoretical and practical contributions. The appendices offer additional information such as data cleaning results, article publication metrics, word clouds, sentiment distributions, and network patterns of BRICS relations, complementing the main content of the thesis. Key insights include significant variations in BRICS relations' coverage, focus, and depth within media outlets of Russia, UAE, UK, and USA. The analysis reveals interesting sentiment trends and confirms the influence of geopolitical factors, global events, and national interests on media representation and sentiment trends regarding BRICS relations.