ESRC Centre for Corpus Approaches to Social Science (CASS)

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Corpus linguistics is a UK success story. It is an approach to the study of language, pioneered in large part by UK researchers, that uses computers to permit the analysis of millions, or even billions, of words of data to look for patterns of usage that are not necessarily observable otherwise. It is now an increasingly widely used approach to the study of language by linguists. This proposal is for the establishment of an ESRC research centre dedicated not simply to corpus linguistics, but to bringing these latest techniques in linguistic analysis to bear on a range of questions in the social sciences. Corpus linguistics has revolutionised linguistics, changing the way language is analysed and how languages are taught. Beyond linguistics, it has profoundly altered how computers can engage with human language - corpus methods lie behind many of the most effective language technologies today, such as web searching and voice recognition. Yet the analysis of language is not the sole preserve of linguists but, rather, is a thread that runs through all of the social sciences. For that reason, this Centre's express goal is to bring the benefits of the corpus approach to as wide a range of social science disciplines as possible. The social sciences have not, so far, benefitted notably from this change in approach to the study of language. We will change that. This is obviously a long-term objective, as practices will not change overnight; a period of persuasion, based on a clear demonstration of the benefits of the corpus approach, is needed. We also need to train a new generation of social sciences researchers to use these techniques. So, building on an initial five year investment by the ESRC, the Centre will work for 15 years to facilitate the uptake of corpus techniques in the social sciences. In doing so, it will turn one UK success story - corpus linguistics - into another: corpus informed social sciences. As noted, we will proceed by persuasion, and the best form of persuasion is to produce new research findings of the kind that this new approach to social science is uniquely well-placed to make. Accordingly this Centre will work across the full range of the ESRC's strategic challenges, including developing new approaches to the study of hate speech, exploring how people talk about climate change, looking at the role religion can play in enabling new migrants to the UK to integrate into UK society, and looking at how changes in corporate governance are communicated. This Centre will make a difference to how social science is undertaken in the UK. In doing so, it will provide a series of insights into key social questions facing the UK today.