Postgraduate Module Descriptor

POLM150: Text as Data

This module descriptor refers to the 2020/1 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
  • Preprocessing text for analysis and “feature selection”
  • Dictionary-based methods for text classification
  • Supervised and unsupervised learning for text classification
  • Ideological scaling
  • 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
22128

...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 Study40Activities to familiarize you with the Python programming language
Guided Independent Study30Reading and preparing for lectures
Guided independent study58Research and analysis for final essay and presentation

Online Resources

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

Other Learning Resources