Abstract
This retrospective on statistical analysis of literature in the first twenty-four years of Computers and the Humanities divides the essays under review into four groups: the philosophical, the statistical analyses of language, the statistical analyses of literary texts, and the statistical analyses of themes. It begins with the question: must valid statistical analysis of any literary text be based on a complete linguistic description of the language of the text? It summarizes and evaluates over forty essays, giving details on works discussed, sample sizes used, statistical methods applied, and quotations from the researchers. The essay ends with a polemical summary of what has been done and what the future holds. It emphasizes the importance of extended pre-computational stages of learning about language and discourse analysis; reading previous research, building on and challenging theory; and the use of carefully crafted, small databases to test specific questions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Rosanne G. Potter is an associate professor of English, and Program Executive Officer of Women's Studies, at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. She has published essays in Computers and the Humanities, Modern Drama, Style, and in the Proceedings of International Conference, on Computers and the Humanities (1981, 1983, 1987) and in other edited books. Her collection of essays: Literary Computing and Literary Criticism: Theoretical and Practical Essays on Theme and Rhetoric was published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 1989. Her most recent work, on Reader Response Criticism, will appear in a series on Approaches to Semiotics and in a special issue of Revue Belge de Philologie et d'Histoire.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Potter, R.G. Statistical analysis of literature: A retrospective on Computers and the Humanities, 1966–1990. Comput Hum 25, 401–429 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141190
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00141190