Quantitative Linguistic Analysis Research Articles

Understanding formal scholarly communication in information science by exploring generational evolution of academic writing patterns

ABSTRACTProfessional academic writing skills can improve the validity of scholarly communication. Aiming to reveal the generational differences of academic writing patterns, by applying quantitative linguistic analysis to explore 53 information scientists in China and 2,328 papers of them, we found that (1) the writing pattern evolves smoothly, (2) sentences that scientists compose in a paper have become longer and longer, and syntax has become more and more complex as time goes by, and (3) scientists tend to be more and more cautious on choosing expression manners and norm words. This research will continue the matters of exact relationships between the age differences and writing patterns, and will be extended to other languages.

Quantitative assessment of grammar in amyloid-negative logopenic aphasia

Logopenic primary progressive aphasia (lvPPA) typically results from underlying Alzheimer's disease, but subjects have been reported that do not show beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposition. These subjects do not differ on neurological and speech-language testing from Aβ-positive lvPPA, but they impressionistically show increased grammatical deficits. We performed a quantitative linguistic analysis of grammatical characteristics in Aβ-negative lvPPA compared to Aβ-positive lvPPA and agrammatic PPA, which is characterized by increased grammatical difficulties. Aβ-negative lvPPA used fewer function words and correct verbs but more syntactic and semantic errors compared to Aβ-positive lvPPA. These measures did not differ between Aβ-negative lvPPA and agPPA. Both lvPPA cohorts showed a higher mean length of utterance, more complex sentences, and fewer nouns than agPPA. Aβ-negative lvPPA subjects appear unique and share linguistic features with both agPPA and Aβ-positive lvPPA. Quantitative language analysis in lvPPA may be able to distinguish those with and without Aβ deposition.

Evaluating stance-annotated sentences from the Brexit Blog Corpus: A quantitative linguistic analysis

AbstractThis paper offers a formally driven quantitative analysis of stance-annotated sentences in the Brexit Blog Corpus (BBC). Our goal is to identify features that determine the formal profiles of six stance categories (contrariety, hypotheticality, necessity, prediction, source of knowledgeanduncertainty) in a subset of the BBC. The study has two parts: firstly, it examines a large number of formal linguistic features, such as punctuation, words and grammatical categories that occur in the sentences in order to describe the specific characteristics of each category, and secondly, it compares characteristics in the entire data set in order to determine stance similarities in the data set. We show that among the six stance categories in the corpus,contrarietyandnecessityare the most discriminative ones, with the former using longer sentences, more conjunctions, more repetitions and shorter forms than the sentences expressing other stances.necessityhas longer lexical forms but shorter sentences, which are syntactically more complex. We show that stance in our data set is expressed in sentences with around 21 words per sentence. The sentences consist mainly of alphabetical characters forming a varied vocabulary without special forms, such as digits or special characters.

The malleability behind terms referring to common professional roles: the current meaning of “boss” in British newspapers

The aim of the present research is to approach the current variation and vulnerability to manipulation of concepts, apparently clear and unambiguous, related to usual professional roles. The study concentrates on semantic frames, and subsequent, cognitive models associated to the term ‘boss’ as they are expressed and transmitted through large-scale British media. The qualitative and quantitative linguistic analysis of a substantial corpus of texts, in which this term appears, shows clear differences in its meaning, depending on key factors such as the socio-political and ideological orientation of the medium of publication.

Paint it Black: Using Change-Point Analysis to Investigate Increasing Vulnerability to Depression towards the End of Vincent van Gogh's Life.

This study investigated whether Vincent van Gogh became increasingly self-focused—and thus vulnerable to depression—towards the end of his life, through a quantitative analysis of his written pronoun use over time. A change-point analysis was conducted on the time series formed by the pronoun use in Van Gogh’s letters. We used time as a predictor to see whether there was evidence for increased self-focus towards the end of Van Gogh’s life, and we compared this to the pattern in the letters written before his move to Arles. Specifically, we examined Van Gogh’s use of first person singular pronouns (FPSP) and first person plural pronouns (FPPP) in the 415 letters he wrote while working as an artist before his move to Arles, and in the next 248 letters he wrote after his move to Arles until his death in Auvers-sur-Oise. During the latter period, Van Gogh’s use of FPSP showed an annual increase of 0.68% (SE = 0.15, p < 0.001) and his use of FPPP showed an annual decrease of 0.23% (SE = 0.04, p < 0.001), indicating increasing self-focus and vulnerability to depression. This trend differed from Van Gogh’s pronoun use in the former period (which showed no significant trend in FPSP, and an annual increase of FPPP of 0.03%, SE = 0.02, p = 0.04). This study suggests that Van Gogh’s death was preceded by a gradually increasing self-focus and vulnerability to depression. It also illustrates how existing methods (i.e., quantitative linguistic analysis and change-point analysis) can be combined to study specific research questions in innovative ways.

At Attention: What Student Veteran Mission Statements Say About Public Flagships

Expanding Wilson, Meyer, and McNeal’s (2012) work focusing on university mission statements, this study further explicates the values expressed by public flagship institutions (n = 50) through the linguistic examination of student veteran services mission statements disseminated by student veterans services offices, representing a gap in the literature. A quantitative linguistic analysis reveals only 24% of student veteran services offices feature official mission statements on their websites, these mission statements do not support extant research or the U.S. Department of Education’s guidelines for supporting student veterans, and mission statements do not directly address student veterans, evidenced by first- and third-person pronouns. Implications for student veteran support and adult learning are addressed.

Finding Diego: A Bilingual Student Integrates School, Language, and Identity

ABSTRACTThis article presents a mixed-methods case study of Diego, a bilingual teen who completed public school in Florida. During adolescence, Diego negotiated multiple identities: successful student, Mexican American, bilingual, and typical U.S. teenager. Diego provided interviews and bilingual (English/Spanish) writing (narrative/expository) in 2008 (at age 12, Grade 6) and in 2012 (at age 16, Grade 10). A qualitative analysis of his interviews and a quantitative linguistic analysis of his writing reveal central elements of Diego’s language development as related to academic English and identity. Educational implications for working with bilingual adolescents are discussed.

Social in, Social out: How the Brain Responds to Social Language with More Social Language

Social connection is a fundamental human need. As such, people's brains are sensitized to social cues, such as those carried by language, and to promoting social communication. The neural mechanisms of certain key building blocks in this process, such as receptivity to and reproduction of social language, however, are not known. We combined quantitative linguistic analysis and neuroimaging to connect neural activity in brain regions used to simulate the mental states of others with exposure to, and retransmission of, social language. Our results link findings on successful idea transmission from communication science, sociolinguistics, and cognitive neuroscience to prospectively predict the degree of social language that participants utilize when retransmitting ideas as a function of (1) initial language inputs and (2) neural activity during idea exposure.

A quantitative linguistic analysis of National Institutes of Health R01 application critiques from investigators at one institution.

Career advancement in academic medicine often hinges on the ability to garner research funds. The National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) R01 award is the "gold standard" of an independent research program. Studies show inconsistencies in R01 reviewers' scoring and in award outcomes for certain applicant groups. Consistent with the NIH recommendation to examine potential bias in R01 peer review, the authors performed a text analysis of R01 reviewers' critiques. The authors collected 454 critiques (262 from 91 unfunded and 192 from 67 funded applications) from 67 of 76 (88%) R01 investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with initially unfunded applications subsequently funded between December 2007 and May 2009. To analyze critiques, the authors developed positive and negative grant application evaluation word categories and selected five existing categories relevant to grant review. They analyzed results with linear mixed-effects models for differences due to applicant and application characteristics. Critiques of funded applications contained more positive descriptors and superlatives and fewer negative evaluation words than critiques of unfunded applications. Experienced investigators' critiques contained more references to competence. Critiques showed differences due to applicant sex despite similar application scores or funding outcomes: more praise for applications from female investigators, greater reference to competence/ability for funded applications from female experienced investigators, and more negative evaluation words for applications from male investigators (all P<.05). Results suggest that text analysis is a promising tool for assessing consistency in R01 reviewers' judgments, and gender stereotypes may operate in R01 review.

Avatars are (sometimes) people too: Linguistic indicators of parasocial and social ties in player–avatar relationships

As principal links between players and many gameworlds, avatars are of central importance in understanding human behavior and communication in play. In particular, the connection between player and avatar is understood as influencing a range of cognitive, affective, and behavioral play phenomena. Divergent approaches examine this connection from both parasocial (one-way, non-dialectical) and social (two-way, dialectical) perspectives. This study examined how player–avatar connections may be better understood by integrating an existing parasocial approach (character attachment [CA]) with a social approach (player–avatar relationships [PARs]). A quantitative linguistic analysis of massively multiplayer online game (MMO) player interviews revealed statistically robust associations among language patterns, dimensions of CA, and PAR types. Validating and extending prior research, findings highlight the importance of self-differentiation and anthropomorphization in suspending disbelief so that the avatar may be taken as a fully social agent.

A quantitative linguistic analysis of written reports on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales

A quantitative linguistic analysis of written reports on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales

Relational data modelling of textual corpora: The Skaldic Project and its extensions

Skaldic poetry is a highly complex textual phenomenon both in terms of the intricacy of the poetry and its contextual environment. Extensible Markup Language (XML) applications such as that of the Text Encoding Initiative provide a means of semantic representation of some of these complexities. XML, however, has limitations in representing semantic relationships that do not conform to the tree model. This article presents the relational data model as a way of representing the structure of skaldic texts and their contextual environment. The relational data model raises both problems and possibilities for this type of project. The main problem addressed here is the representation of the syntagmatic structures of texts in a data model that is not intrinsically ordered. The advantages are also explored, including networked data editing and management, quantitative linguistic analysis, dynamic representation of the data, and the ability to extend the structure and reuse data for related projects without creating redundancy.

Derivational processes in the discourse of international relations. The case of press articles on international politics

Abstract In this article, two areas of scholarship have been combined, namely journalistic English and international relations. More precisely, current word-formation tendencies in press articles have been analysed against a background of events on the international arena. First, the language of Newsweek�s press articles on international affairs has been searched for derivations (affixed formations) with names of all 192 UN member states. The five most productive affixes involved are: the prefixes un- and anti- and the suffixes -ize, -(iz)ation and -ness. The results obtained demonstrate vast quantitative disproportions between particular names with these affixes. Secondly, arguments from the area of international relations have been brought in and displayed alongside the linguistic statistics. The results of the quantitative and qualitative linguistic analysis are claimed to have a strong political motivation. �Pure� linguistic findings, such as high numbers of certain derivations only, can be linked with negative attitudes toward a particular state described in the political literature. Current derivational trends in English for international relations are intrinsically related to events that unfold and situations that obtain on the international scene. In conclusion, semantic consequences of the linguistic phenomena in question are also predicted.

Corporate self‐presentation on the WWW

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify starting points for improving corporate self‐presentation on the world wide web (WWW) by enhancing site usability, message credibility, and information utility.Design/methodology/approachContent analysis, quantitative linguistic analysis and discourse analysis were used to examine the “About Us” sections of 20 well‐known corporate web sites.FindingsThe findings suggest that companies recognise the challenges provided by WWW‐mediated communication but fail to respond adequately. The companies could enhance their web sites by adopting a more user‐centred approach, constructing more convincing arguments and raising the level of interactivity in order to present their audiences with more relevant information.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this study are limited by the fast‐paced nature of the internet. The content and structure of the pages may have changed substantially since the research was conducted.Practical implicationsCompanies need to pay more attention to the fact that the WWW as a pull medium empowers users to choose the material they want to be exposed to. Therefore, companies need to make more efforts to entice users to see material they would otherwise not choose to see.Originality/valueIn view of the small body of qualitative research on corporate web sites, particularly regarding the use of language, the challenges of corporate web communication and the responses identified may provide a framework for future research, e.g. for longitudinal studies. Practitioners may use the findings to redesign the content and structure of corporate web sites.

Patterning in rhyme initials

Onsets of rhymed syllables are traditionally thought to be involved in rhyming only negatively, in not exhibiting the identity found in the rhyme stems. Data from the work of five poets, however, indicate that rhyme initials are patterned in various ways with respect to each other and to their line position in couplets. These patterns, definable in terms of phonological strength and prominence, are functionally related to the more obvious phonetic correspondence of rhyme stems. Such findings necessitate revision of the traditional description of rhyme as a type of sound identity or approximation and suggest the need for quantitative linguistic analysis of prosodic devices.

Attitudes of nursing personnel toward death and dying: II. linguistic indicators of denial

AbstractThis study was conducted to examine the attitudes of nursing personal toward death and dying by means of quantitative linguistic analysis. Previous research findings on the attitudinal concept of avoidance support the suitability of the approach. This study sought to examine the proposition that denial, another attitudinal concept appearing frequently in the literature on death and dying, would be manifested in language by increased use of negative lexical forms. It was hypothesized that the use of negatives would increase significantly in death‐related responses as compared with non‐death‐related responses. The sample consisted of 40 nursing personnel interviewed on their expectations and care of terminally ill patients. Dependent variable measures include the ratio of negative lexical forms to total number of words for all death‐related and all non‐death‐related responses. Similar proportions were obtained for selected response categories. Significantly more negatives were used in death‐related responses, thus supporting the hypothesis. The value of these methods is discussed, as are the clinical implications for nursing.

Attitudes of Nursing Personnel Toward Death and Dying: I. Linguistic Indicators of Avoidance

AbstractTwo sequential studies were conducted to examine the suitability of quantitative linguistic analysis for the study of attitudes. Attitudes of nursing personnel toward death and the care of dying patients were examined unobtrusively by observing changes in selected linguistic behaviors. Avoidance was defined as the substitution of a pronoun for a negatively affected noun. Both studies supported the hypotheses that the use of the pronoun it would be greater in death‐related than in non‐death‐related responses (ps&lt;.01). The initial study demonstrated that general pronoun usage was also increased in selected death‐related response categories (p&lt;.01), but this finding may have been related to more standard pronoun usage in English rather than to use as a substitute for purposes of avoidance. The inference of increased use of it as a substitute for negatively affected nouns was substantiated by a review of it‐referents for a segment of the data. The scientific and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.