Weighting Evidence in Language and Literature

In recent years, there has been a tremendous development in the area of quantitative and statistical analysis of linguistic and literary data, generated, no doubt, by extensive advances in computer technology and their relatively easy availability to scholars. However, except for a few rather specialized examples, there has been no truly introductory text in statistics and quantitative analysis devoted to the needs of language scholars. This work was written especially to fill the gap. It introduces a mathematically naïve reader to those statistical tools which are applicable in modern quantitative text and language analysis, and does this in terms of simple examples dealing exclusively with language and literature. Exercises are included throughout.  

Barron Brainerd is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and a former member of the Centre for Linguistic Studies at the University of Toronto. He is co-author of several books on mathematics, has contributed to volumes on mathematical and statistical linguistics, and has published articles in international journals.