BA English Language and English Literature

This course aims to familiarize students with the basic concepts of statistics through hands-on practice. Topics covered in the course include distributions of data, basic principles of probability, describing and visualizing quantitative data, and interpreting quantitative data through hypothesis testing.

LELA Quantitative Methods - Level 2 and Level 3 Quantitative Methods can not both be taken by the same student

The principal aims of the course unit are as follows:

• To familiarize students with basic statistical concepts and terms necessary to understand quantitative research
• To help students understand the rules of describing, visualizing, and interpreting data
• To help students develop computer skills needed to work with quantitative data
• To foster critical thinking skills necessary for conducting quantitative research in the future

Some representative topics covered:

Variable types

Descriptive statistics

Visualising Data

Probability and Inference

Correlation and regression

Multiple regression

Comparing means

Experimental design and generalisation

Weekly 1 hour lecture (online)

Weekly 2 hour computer data-analysis tutorial

E-learning: The Canvas environment will provide: lecture recordings, lecture slides, tutorials on using R, reading assignments (beyond the main textbook), revision quizzes, additional exercises. We will also use the Canvas discussion forum.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Understand fundamentals of quantitative analysis
• Be familiar with basic statistical methods
• Describe, summarize, and visualize data
• Conduct basic statistical tests by hand and using computer statistical software

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Identify appropriate descriptive and data visualization methods for different types of data
• Assess validity and soundness of conclusions drawn from basic statistical tests

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Form sound statistical hypotheses based on research questions
• Use computer programs to visualize and summarize data and conduct basic statistical tests.
• Write simple computer code (using the R package)

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Use a variety of quantitative techniques to explore quantitative data
• Draw conclusions from quantitative data through both descriptive and inferential statistics
• Become comfortable working with quantitative data
• Develop time management skills by working to deadline

Assessment task	Formative or Summative	Length	Weighting within unit (if summative)
Canvas quizzes	Formative
Coursework (analysis report)	Summative	1,000 words	20%
Exam (on campus in a computer cluster)	Summative	2h	80%

 

 

Feedback Method	Formative or Summative
Canvas Quizzes: individual scores	Formative
Coursework mark and individual feedback	Formative and Summative
Exam mark	Summative

 

• Winter, B. (2019). Statistics for linguists: An introduction using R. Routledge.
• Field, A. and Hole, G., 2002. How to design and report experiments. Sage.
• Crawley, Michael J. (2005). Statistics: An Introduction Using R.
• Johnson, Keith (2008). Quantitative Methods in Linguistics.

This course unit is taught jointly with LELA32011.

Tuition fees for home students will be £10,050 for the 2027/28 academic year. In England and Wales, tuition fees for home undergraduate students are subject to the Government fee cap, which the Government has announced will be £10,050 for the 2027/28 academic year.

Government policy is to increase the fee cap on an annual basis to reflect inflation (i.e. increasing costs), and the tuition fee home students pay in subsequent academic years will reflect any increases in the Government fee cap (which we will communicate to you as soon as we can in advance of the relevant academic year).

Tuition fees for international students will be £29,200 for the 2027/28 academic year. For subsequent academic years, the University reserves the right to increase the tuition fee by up to 7% each year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our education and wider student experience.

For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

Learn more about student finance options for UK students .

Learn more about f ees and finance for international students .

As an international student you may be eligible for our Global Futures Scholarships . This is open to students starting their studies in September 2026.