Lexical Analysis of 2008 US Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debates — who's the Windbag?
Summary :
Metrics of speech structure of candidates fall within narrow tolerances, suggesting high degree of wordsmithing and rehearsal. For example, noun/verb/adjective/adverb ratio spread is very small with candidates' values within 2%. Relatively small differences seen in unique word count and noun phrase profile. The Obama/McCain debates began with balanced performance from both candidates but end with Obama verbally overpowering McCain and delivering speech with more concepts and higher complexity. When words exclusive to a candidate are considered, Obama's more frequent use of verbs and much more frequent use of adjectives and adverbs, compared to McCain, suggests that he is more of a fluid and contextual thinker who, unlike McCain whose language metrics suggest a categorical approach, does not seek to fit issues into pre-existing categories. Obama's greater use of modifiers suggest an outlook that is more open to nuance and inter-relatedness of events and issues.
Analysis of the Biden/Palin debate suggests that speech of Vice-Presidential candidates is less complex and more repetitive than that of their Presidential counterparts, with Biden being the most repetitive speaker and Palin having the longest sentences, of all four debates.
Read more at: http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/debates/
Summary :
Metrics of speech structure of candidates fall within narrow tolerances, suggesting high degree of wordsmithing and rehearsal. For example, noun/verb/adjective/adverb ratio spread is very small with candidates' values within 2%. Relatively small differences seen in unique word count and noun phrase profile. The Obama/McCain debates began with balanced performance from both candidates but end with Obama verbally overpowering McCain and delivering speech with more concepts and higher complexity. When words exclusive to a candidate are considered, Obama's more frequent use of verbs and much more frequent use of adjectives and adverbs, compared to McCain, suggests that he is more of a fluid and contextual thinker who, unlike McCain whose language metrics suggest a categorical approach, does not seek to fit issues into pre-existing categories. Obama's greater use of modifiers suggest an outlook that is more open to nuance and inter-relatedness of events and issues.
Analysis of the Biden/Palin debate suggests that speech of Vice-Presidential candidates is less complex and more repetitive than that of their Presidential counterparts, with Biden being the most repetitive speaker and Palin having the longest sentences, of all four debates.
Read more at: http://mkweb.bcgsc.ca/debates/
