FEATURES OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE RUSSIAN NORTH AND SOUTH: A METHODOLOGY FOR SEMI-AUTOMATIC ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING DOCUMENTS

• Published in: Север и рынок: формирование экономического порядка
• Main Authors: Natalia А. Roslyakova, Inna V. Mitrofanova, Evgeniy A. Kanevsky, Kirill K. Boyarsky
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: The Russian Academy of Sciences, Federal Research Centre Kola Science Centre 2023
• Subjects: strategic planning documents; comprehensive content analysis methodology; sentence syntax; semantics; homonymy; Social Sciences; H; Russian North
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.37614/2220-802X.3.2023.81.004; https://doaj.org/article/4cb8900785df4aec9366826c531e9898

The abundance of strategic planning documents and the dynamic nature of strategic planning necessitate the evolution of analysis tools. This study aims to develop a comprehensive methodology for analyzing strategic planning documents using electronic data processing tools. The core of the proposed methodology is content analysis with the identification and synthesis of semantic structures. It relies on tools such as a content analyzer, a semantic and syntactic parser for in-depth text analysis, and a semantic mapping tool for condensing information gathered in the preceding stages. Initially, we identified three key structures to uncover value orientations, combinations of measures, and anticipated outcomes embedded in the documents of several regions of the Russian North and South. Subsequently, the tools mentioned were utilized for language pattern identification, definition, and classification. In the following stage, using a word cloud toolkit (semantic map), which factors in word frequency and collocation strength, visual representations were derived from the pre-processed data provided by the strategic planning documents. The analysis and comparison of the regional strategies under study revealed that Northern regions’ strategies are more balanced and comprehensive in terms of their underlying values. However, the language patterns describing measures taken and their outcomes mainly concentrate on employment. In addition, it should be noted that semantic structures concerning the lives of indigenous peoples of the North were not identified in the course of the analysis. These conclusions can be useful for both improving the content of long-term regional development planning documents and stimulating scholarly discussions regarding the essence of the strategic planning process across different government levels.