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Tracking the Semantics of Politics: A Case for Online Data Research in Political Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2013

Navid Hassanpour
Navid Hassanpour*
Affiliation:
Yale University
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Extract

Retroactive digitization of the printed corpus reveals patterns of social evolution and political manipulation. Prior to the introduction of online search, examining the etymology of a political term helped social theorists extrapolate the historical trajectory of a political concept. Now we have tools for quantitative examination of such hypotheses. Using four case studies, I demonstrate the utility of word search dynamics in shedding light on the evolution of long-debated political phenomena. A triad of etymological explorations by Richard Koebner motivates the first three cases.

Type
Symposium: Technology, Data, and Politics
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 46 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 299 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © American Political Science Association 2013

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