| CODE | LLT2830 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Quantitative Research in Linguistics | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Institute of Linguistics and Language Technology | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The early 2000s have witnessed a major shift toward quantitative approaches in the methodology of linguistics. Quantitative studies, statistical techniques and statistical modelling have become more and more central to linguistic research, where theoretical generalisations are increasingly reliant on empirical data. Even in fields of linguistics dominantly working with qualitative methods, some degree of quantification is increasingly expected. This study-unit will introduce students to basic quantitative data analysis techniques for use in experimental and data-driven analyses of natural languages, complementing the grounding that students may acquire in other methodologies. Such techniques are fundamental in the analysis and interpretation of data in many domains, but are particularly useful in the areas of experimental and computational linguistics. The study-unit will focus on the following areas: 1. Basic probability theory 2. Measures of central tendency and dispersion in samples and populations 3. Probability distributions, with particular reference to some fundamental distributions such as the normal, chi-square and zipfian distributions 4. Basic hypothesis testing methods 5. Correlation and regression techniques Throughout, an emphasis will be placed on practical applications, with students being given the opportunity to deploy their newly acquired skills to analyse linguistic data. Another key feature of this study-unit is that it will introduce students to the programming language R, the lingua franca or go-to language of statistics and data science. Study-Unit Aims: This study-unit has the following aims: - to give students a grounding in basic techniques for data analysis; - to encourage students to postulate questions about trends and distributions observed in large data samples; - to deploy techniques learnt to answer specific questions about trends and distributions observed in large data samples. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - define basic statistical concepts such as probability, distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersion; - formulate specific hypotheses and draw conclusions based on tests which falsify the corresponding null hypothesis; - identify the correct procedures for data analysis in specific instances. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - analyse linguistic data using appropriate statistical techniques; - use appropriate software packages for statistical analysis; - report results obtained from running statistical techniques in appropriate ways. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: Main Texts: - Winter, B. (2019). Statistics for linguists: An introduction using R. Routledge. [Available at Main Library, General, P138.5 .W559] - Gries, S. T. (2013). Statistics for Linguistics with R. In Statistics for Linguistics with R. De Gruyter Mouton. [Full text available online through the UM website] |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Practicum & Tutorial | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Jessica Nieder Patrizia Paggio |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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