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69457-01 - Practical course: Statistics in R for Literary Studies and Linguistics (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2026 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Cristina Loi (cristina.loi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | In the past decades, the use of empirical methods for the humanities has grown exponentially. Today, there are several established empirical methods available to researchers in the various subfields of literature and language studies, such as reader-response research and corpus linguistics. With empirical methods come statistical analyses of data (e.g., questionnaires of reader response, corpora of literary texts, online reviews, or social media posts). This course will introduce the main empirical approaches in literature and language studies, teaching students how to use statistics to answer empirical research questions. You will learn to use the open-source software program R to run statistical code, interpret results and produce basic visualizations of such results. Note: This course is beginner-friendly, no previous experience in R is required. The best way to acquire skills in statistics is to apply them to answer a research question of your interest. As part of this course, you will conduct a “mini research project” of your own choice. You can opt for your own project (e.g., analyses for your thesis) or you can choose one of the several options for research projects that will be provided to you during the lectures, analyzing empirical data collected in open repositories of reader-response research and corpus linguistics. The course will be in English; thus, you will be asked to discuss, present, and write in English. Lesson plan: Monday, October 12, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Statistics in Linguistics and Literary Studies: Hypotheses and Variables Monday, October 19, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Research Design, Datasets and Intro to R Monday, October 26, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Descriptive Statistics: Central Tendency, Dispersion, and Distributions Monday, November 2, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Inferential Statistics: the p value (and its problems) Monday, November 9, 2026 - 14:15-18:00 (double session) Part I: Correlations – association between variables Part II: t-test and Mann Whitney – difference between two groups Monday, November 16, 2026 - 14:15-18:00 ANOVA & Kruskal Wallis – difference between three or more groups Monday, November 23, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Regression Models I – introduction to predictive modeling Monday, November 30, 2026 - 14:15-16:00 Regression Models II – hierarchical regression and interaction terms Monday, December 7, 2026 - 14:15-18:00 (double session) Part I: Logistic Regression – when your DV is categorical Part II: Introduction to Mixed-Effects Models Monday, December 14, 2026 - 14:15-18:00 (double session) Case Studies and Research Projects |
| Learning objectives | The overarching learning objective is to get acquainted with scientific methods for literature and language studies and learn basic statistical skills using R. Upon the completion of this course, you will be able to: 1. Identify the main empirical methods and research designs in literature and language studies. 2. Obtain a basic understanding of descriptive and inferential statistics and how they can be applied to answer empirical questions in literature and language studies. For example, you will be able to: - Investigate whether some demographic components (for example, age and gender) and individual differences (for example, personality differences) lead to differences in how readers experience a particular text or genre. - Identify meaningful trends in a corpus (for example, comparing emotional tone, or tracking changes in vocabulary over time) 3. Write a script in R for statistical testing of an empirical hypothesis. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, optional |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Monday | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
Dates
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Monday 12.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 19.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 26.10.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 02.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 09.11.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 16.11.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 23.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 30.11.2026 | 14.15-16.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 07.12.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Monday 14.12.2026 | 14.15-18.00 | Nadelberg 6, Grosser Hörsaal |
| Modules |
Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies: Recommendations (PhD subject: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies) Doktorat Historisch-vergleichende Sprachwissenschaft: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Comparative and Historic Linguistics) Doktorat Iberoromanische Sprachwissenschaft: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Ibero-Romance Linguistics) Doktorat Italienische Sprachwissenschaft: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: Italian Linguistics) Doktorat Sprachwissenschaft des Englischen: Empfehlungen (PhD subject: English Linguistics) French Linguistics: Recommendations (PhD subject: French Linguistics) General Linguistics: Recommendations (PhD subject: General Linguistics) German Linguistics: Recommendations (PhD subject: German Linguistics) Modul: Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: English Linguistics (Master's degree subject: English) Modul: Humanities and Social Science Coding (Master's degree subject: Digital Humanities) Modul: Literaturtheorie (Master's degree program: Literary Studies) Module: Advanced Anglophone Literary and Cultural Studies (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Module: Advanced English Linguistics (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics BA (Bachelor's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Module: Interphilology: Linguistics MA (Master's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Ancient Civilizations) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature (Start of studies before 01.08.2026)) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree program: Ancient Civilizations) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies BA (Bachelor's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: Slavic Studies) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: English) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: German Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: French Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: Spanish Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: Italian Language and Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: German Literature) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: Latin Philology) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's degree subject: Nordic Philology) Module: Interphilology: Literary and Cultural Studies MA (Master's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) Module: Language and Society (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Language as Process (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Language as System (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) Module: Research and Extension (Master's degree program: Language and Communication) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Students will report on their hands-on research project, which will: (a) introduce an empirical research question, (b) answer it with the appropriate statistical test in R, and (c) visualize the result in a basic graph produced in R. Students can choose to deliver this assignment either as a brief written research report (2-3 pages) or in the format of a power point presentation. In addition, students are expected to complete weekly exercises in R in-between lessons. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Englische Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaft |