Creating the database of abstract and concrete nouns: The influence of instructions on respondents’ assessment of words
https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2022-70-4-36-43
Abstract
This article studies the methodology for conducting a survey, the main purpose of which is creating a database of “concreteness” / “abstractness” ranking. It focuses on using detailed instructions that are offered to respondents before taking the survey. In dealing with the topic, the experience of creating a similar database for various languages (English, Dutch, German and other languages) is taken into account, a special reference is made to the features of the “concreteness” / “abstractness” categories of Russian words that can affect the database structure and the nature of these instructions. The article analyzes the structure of instructions that are used to create abstractness ratings, it also describes the instruction that is used in surveys to build a rating of abstract words, taking into account the peculiarities of the Russian language. The paper describes an experiment that was conducted among two groups of respondents, one of which, before taking the survey, received detailed instructions indicating the criteria for distinguishing between abstract and concrete words; the other received abbreviated instructions indicating the rules for passing the survey. A correlation analysis of the results obtained leads to conclusions about the influence of instructions on the assessments of words of different categories. Thus, the differences between the evaluations of abstract nouns are discovered. The paper analyzes the semantics of these units and considers cases of possible concretization.
Keywords
abstract vocabulary,
concrete vocabulary,
instructions,
abstractness ranking,
semantic criterion,
dictionary
Supporting agencies: The study was carried out with the financial support of the RFBR in the framework of scientific project No. 20-312-90041
About the Author
Yu. Volskaya
Kazan Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yulia Aleksandrovna Volskaya, Assistant Professor
420008
18 Kremlyovskaya Str.
Kazan
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Review
For citations:
Volskaya Yu. Creating the database of abstract and concrete nouns: The influence of instructions on respondents’ assessment of words. Philology and Culture. 2022;(4):36-43. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.26907/2782-4756-2022-70-4-36-43
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