fp2analysis.doc July 18, 2002
due August 2, 2002
1.
The
database for field project #2 is hungry for observations of the use of verbs of
quotation. Your task, once all the data
has been entered, is to answer some of the questions about “be like” and other
new verbs of quotation that motivated us to collect this data:
a. When did these
innovative forms begin to be used?
b.
How did they originate?
c.
To what social group do the leaders of the change belong?
d.
Does be like mean the same as go and say? If it has a different meaning, what is it?
e.
What are the limits of the use of be
like and other new forms in the grammatical system?
2.
Approaches
to analysis:
a. One approach to the analysis is to reduce
the number of different verbs of quotation by classifying them into
groups. Create a new column in your
spread sheet for this purpose. You can use the COUNTIF function to sum up the
existing totals.
b. A second approach is to examine sub-groups
of speakers by age, ethnicity and gender and see what verbs of quotation they
use. You will probably want to reduce the age classification to a smaller set,
using a function like:
=IF(F2<20,1,IF(F2,<30,2,3))
which classifies age as under 20 = 1, 20-30 = 2, over 30
= 3
c. After you have sub-grouped the data and
discovered regularities, you can look more deeply into any exceptional cases by
examining the full data set, including all the data available for those cases.
You can use these special cases to understand better the variations that you
discover.
3.
Form of the
report. Please examine three independent variables.
a. A description of how
you grouped the dependent
variables (the different verbs of
quotation)
b. The independent variables you decided to
examine and why
c. Several tables or
graphs
d. The conclusions you
draw from the tables or graphs and any broader implications these might have,
based on discussion in class and your reading
e. Use the chi-square test as needed to test
hypotheses and defend some of your findings.
In evaluating any regularity concerning age, gender or ethnicity, be
sure to begin with the total number of each social category in the data base.
Use statistics on the cases that seem problematic.