STATISTICS FOR LANGUAGE SCIENCES 1

The course "Introduzione alla statistica per le Scienze del Linguaggio" is one of the integrated activities of the Second Degree in Linguistics (Scienze del Linguaggio) and contributes to the development of in-depth knowledge of quantitative methods and their application in the field of Linguistics, as well as to the strengthening of the ability to analyse linguistic data in a methodologically correct way, with reference to the objectives and the theoretical reference framework.

The student will be introduced to the basic elements of statistics - seen as a tool for describing and understanding reality expressed in number form. The relation between the information enclosed in the numbers and the words deployed to explain it and make it comprehensible will be explored. The student will be accompanied all the way from the definition of the need for knowledge, data collection, and analysis to the reading and understanding of information expressed in statistical form.
The course therefore aims to provide the student with the tools that will allow him to move autonomously when managing basic statistics, whether having to understand and use these in a correct manner when they provided by others or having to produce them autonomously when conducting his/her own empirical research.

Knowledge and understanding
The student will acquire in-depth knowledge concerning the main concepts and foundations of statistics, research methods and data collection, statistical indicators and measures and, more in general, the tools to understand the numerical synthesis of reality. At the same time, s/he will become familiar with, and increase his/her ability to understand, how to formulate research questions and to carefully define the phenomenon under investigation so as to be able to use the quantitative statistical instruments that are available appropriately.

Applying knowledge and comprehension
The student will be able to: reflect on, and take decisions about, the main methodological issues relative to statistical data; know the main sources and modes of data search; read and understand statistical data extracting from it correct information and avoiding errors of interpretation; translate the areas of interest and the knowledge objectives into research questions and hypotheses; translate simple concepts into simple indicators and complex concepts into sets of indicators; plan the different stages of the collection of statistical data; identify the different modes of data collection in the light of objectives; design a simple questionnaire; carry out descriptive quantitative analysis; use the main inferential statistical instruments; write up a report that illustrates the results.

Making judgements
The student will show s/he is able to elaborate complex information through the scientific approaches of the discipline; s/he will be able to discuss and reflect on the statistical methodology and on its results; s/he will be able to make autonomous and informed judgements and evaluations about the validity and feasibility of research proposals and research results (instruments, modes of analysis, indicators produced).

Communication skills
The student will master the basic specialistic lexis of statistics in order to communicate clearly with specialists and non-specialists and to discuss methods and results of analyses with clarity and precision.

Capacita’ di apprendimento
Lo studente saprà dimostrare di aver acquisito capacità e strategie di apprendimento che permettono di proseguire ad approfondire e/o investigare in modo autonomo le principali tematiche della disciplina.

Lifelong learning
The student will acquire the learning skills and strategies that will allow him/her to continue to further his knowledge and competence and/or to further explore the main thematic areas of the discipline on his own.

The course is designed for students with the basic mathematical knowledge and competencies acquired at high school.

The course aims to provide the students with some basic statistical tools. The main topics that will be treated are: methodology of data search and collection: experimental design, descriptive and inferential statistics with a particular focus on frequency distribution, central tendency, variability, estimation, tests.

Agresti, A., Franklin, C., 2016, Statistica: l'arte e la scienza d'imparare dai dati. Ediz. mylab. Online expansion, Pearson
The lecturer will use her own material and will guide the students in searching the web for useful materials.

The exam consists of a multiple choice test, some exercises and some open questions.
The exam will last 90 minutes.
- part one: ten (10) multiple choice questions;
- part two: two (2) practical exercises, e.g., a statistical calculation;
- part tree: two (2) open questions.

The multiple choice questions and the exercises allow for the assessment of the acquisition of the basic concepts; the open questions assess critical thought, critical analysis and scientific writing.

More in detail:
Knowledge and comprehension: assessed through multiple choice questions
Applying knowledge and comprehension: assessed through multiple choice questions and practical exercises
Making judgements: assessed through specific multiple choice questions
Communicative skills: assessed through the open questions
Lifelong learning: assessed through the open questions

The open questions assess critical thought as well as the mastery of the content.

Traditional. The students will be required to participate actively in the discussion and the carry out the exercises.

Italian

written