Determining causality between factors for target object by analyzing text

An electronic device, comprising:

• at least one processing circuit configured to:
• access a table indicating responses to an information collection form for a target object, wherein a first row of the table corresponds to responses from a first respondent and a second row of the table corresponds to responses from a second respondent, wherein a plurality of first columns of the table comprise responses to closed-ended questions in the information collection form, wherein the closed-ended questions are respectively associated with a plurality of predefined factors, and wherein a second column of the table comprises responses to an open-ended question in the information collection form;
• determine a group of target factors for the target object based on an unstructured text set about the target object, each target factor representing an aspect of the target object, wherein the unstructured text set comprises the responses to the open-ended question in the second column of the table;
• determine a causal-outcome event pair comprising a causal event and an outcome event by analyzing text in the unstructured text set;
• and
• determine, based on the causal-outcome event pair, a first causality between a first factor in the group of target factors and a second factor of the target object, wherein the second factor comprises a first predefined factor of the target object from among the plurality of predefined factors.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising computer programs stored thereon, the computer programs executable by a processor to implement a method of information processing, the method comprising:

• providing a table indicating responses to an information collection form for a target object, wherein a first row of the table corresponds to responses from a first respondent and a second row of the table corresponds to responses from a second respondent, wherein a plurality of first columns of the table comprise responses to closed-ended questions in the information collection form, wherein the closed-ended questions are respectively associated with a plurality of predefined factors, and wherein a second column of the table comprises responses to an open-ended question in the information collection form;
• determining a group of target factors for the target object based on an unstructured text set about the target object, each target factor representing an aspect of the target object, wherein the unstructured text set comprises the responses to the open-ended question in the second column of the table;
• determining a causal-outcome event pair comprising a causal event and an outcome event by analyzing text in the unstructured text set;
• and
• determining, based on the causal-outcome event pair, a first causality between a first factor in the group of target factors and a second factor of the target object, wherein the second factor comprises a first predefined factor of the target object from among the plurality of predefined factors.