Hansard at Huddersfield : Streamlined corpus methods and interactive visualisations to pursue research aims beyond corpus linguistics

Jeffries, Lesley and Stradling, Fransina and Lünen, Alexander von and Sanjurjo-González, Hugo (2023) Hansard at Huddersfield : Streamlined corpus methods and interactive visualisations to pursue research aims beyond corpus linguistics. In: Exploring Language and Society with Big Data : Parliamentary discourse across time and space. Studies in Corpus Linguistics . John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 89-117. ISBN 9789027249517

Abstract

This chapter describes one project’s approach to fostering uptake of corpus tools in research beyond corpus linguistics. It introduces the Hansard at Huddersfield web application, a new search tool that combines tried-and-tested corpus tools with interactive visualisations to make Hansard, the official record of the UK parliament (1803–2021), more accessible for in-depth study by non-specialists. The chapter outlines the thinking behind and development of the Hansard at Huddersfield web interface and exemplifies how the site’s adapted corpus tools offer non-linguists new entry points for Hansard research through three small sample studies. It further reflects on the process of preparing the large Hansard corpus to allow insights to be gleaned from corpus-style searches by researchers with relatively little training.