Method: Quantitative and Qualitative Analyses of Metaphor

Abstract

The method section translates the above integrated theoretical framework into a tripartite research paradigm. This combines computer-assisted quantitative analysis with qualitative investigations along the lines of functional grammar in the Hallidayan tradition. Quantitative corpus analysis is here regarded as a valuable starting point, granting a sound empirical basis to subsequent claims about the metaphoric features of the cognition and discourse prevailing in a particular domain. Although quantitative results alone do not provide for sufficient insights, they can, if recontextualized, support qualitative analyses of particular texts (see Koller and Mautner, forthcoming). To integrate those two fundamental methodologies, the present work has been based on machine-readable data. Let us first look at the corpora and then at the two steps in the analysis.

I wade through the filth of mighty metaphors, meta, meta, meta by metre.

(Einstürzende Neubauten, 1993)