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5 - Register Variation

Correlation, Clusters and Factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2018

Vaclav Brezina
Affiliation:
Lancaster University
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Summary

This chapter focuses on the statistical analysis of lexico-grammatical features in language (such as articles, passive constructions or modal expressions). We start with a discussion of two types of approaches to lexico-grammar in corpora. The first approach uses the ‘Whole corpus’ research design and compares the frequencies of a linguistic variable (and its variants) in broadly defined subcorpora. The second approach employs the ‘Linguistic feature’ research design and carefully defines the contexts in which a particular variable can occur (i.e. its lexico-grammatical frame) and analyses factors which contribute to the occurrence of one variant of the variable as opposed to another. Following the second approach, the chapter shows how lexico-grammatical variation can be summarised using cross-tabulation and what statistical measures can be computed based on cross-tabulation summary tables. These measures range from simple percentages to the chi-squared test and logistic regression. Since logistic regression represents an advanced statistical procedure, large parts of the chapter are devoted to explaining this method and the interpretation of its output.
Type
Chapter
Information
Statistics in Corpus Linguistics
A Practical Guide
, pp. 139 - 182
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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References

Advanced Reading

Biber, D. (1988). Variation across speech and writing. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
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Chen, P. Y. & Popovich, P. M. (2002). Correlation: parametric and nonparametric measures. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Conrad, S. & Biber, D. (2001) Multidimensional methodology and the dimensions of register variation in English. In Conrad, S. & Biber, D. (eds.), Variation in English: multidimensional studies, pp. 1819. Harlow: Pearson Education.Google Scholar
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Sheskin, D. J. (2007). Handbook of parametric and nonparametric statistical procedures. Boca Raton, FL: Chapman & Hall/CRC.Google Scholar
Xiao, R. (2009). Multidimensional analysis and the study of world Englishes. World Englishes, 28(4), 421–50.Google Scholar

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  • Register Variation
  • Vaclav Brezina, Lancaster University
  • Book: Statistics in Corpus Linguistics
  • Online publication: 14 September 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316410899.005
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Register Variation
  • Vaclav Brezina, Lancaster University
  • Book: Statistics in Corpus Linguistics
  • Online publication: 14 September 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316410899.005
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Register Variation
  • Vaclav Brezina, Lancaster University
  • Book: Statistics in Corpus Linguistics
  • Online publication: 14 September 2018
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316410899.005
Available formats
×