We'll re-examine Chomsky's argument that corpus linguistics will result in skewed data, and see the procedures used to ensure that a representative sample is obtained. We'll also be looking at the relationship between quantitative and qualitative research. Although the majority of this session is concerned with statisitical procedures which can be said to be quantitative, it is important not to ignore the importance of qualitative analyses. With the statistical part of this session two points should be made. First, that this section is of necessity incomplete.
Space precludes the coverage of all of the techniques which can be used on corpus data.
Many of the techniques used are very complex and to explain the mathematics in full would require a separate session for each one. Tony McEnery, Andrew Wilson, Paul Baker.