Exploring Concepts
How can you explore concepts in a text using text analysis tools?
Ingredients
- A text which is rich in concepts
- A List Words tool
- A Collocation tool
- A Co-occurence tool
- A Concordance tool
Simple Recipe
1. Use a List Words tool that provides a list of the words in a text sorted by frequency.
1. Choose a concept term that appears in the text.
2. Use the Concordance tool to see how the term is used.
3. Use the Collocates tool to see what words collocate with the original concept term.
4. Repeat 1 - 3 using collocating terms.
5. Use the Co-occurence tool find passages that have pairs of concept terms.
The Idea
Concepts are usually discussed in a text using unambiguous vocabulary so search for words associated with a concept will find relevant passages. This recipe shows how you can follow a web of concepts looking at words that co-locate.
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GeoffreyRockwell - 22 Jan 2006
