420006 SE From description to explanation (and back) (2022S)

Due to the strong emphasis on digital humanities over the last decade, much attention is nowadays directed towards ways of gathering and processing data. In this course, however, we will focus on another crucial step in the process of doing linguistic research, that of building up a coherent argument on the basis of the collected data; i.e. of turning data into evidence. In other words, we will look at how data (of any kind) can be used to make a valid point within the parameters chosen for the study in question, and how, if done successfully, this can lead to new insights into and implications for the particular topic/field of interest. For this purpose, we will look at published articles to find out how successful authors are (or not) in using their data to argue their point (independently of whether the reader agrees with the approach taken).