Postgraduate Module Descriptor


POLM172: Text as Data

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

Although the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the following topics:

  • Programming in Python
  • Collecting textual information online
  • Pre-processing text for analysis and “feature selection”
  • Dictionary-based methods for text classification
  • Supervised and unsupervised learning for text classification
  • Transfer learning and language models

Using text-based measures in regression models

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching ActivitiesGuided independent studyPlacement / study abroad
22278

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

CategoryHours of study timeDescription
Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activity2211 x 2-hour lectures
Guided Independent Study108Activities to learn the Python programming language and to reinforce the text analysis concepts and methods described in class
Guided Independent Study80Reading and preparing for lectures
Guided Independent Study90Research and analysis for final essay and presentation

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).

Web-based resources: