Electronic text analysis goes beyond how many times a word occurs in a given corpus. While this information is useful in its own way, its implications are somewhat limited. Exactly how much the frequency of a given word tells us is significant yet narrow. When important parameters like context are taken into account, what a word frequency means changes. The frequency of the word “men,” in a given corpus may indicate how prevalent the topic of men is but beyond that the data reveals little. When the context is accounted for, one can see in what light men are portrayed in the given corpus.

Going beyond word frequency yet, an entire phrase can be examined in a similar fashion. Adolphs uses the example of the phrase, “a bit of a…” which as it turns out occurs quite frequently in the English language. Adolphs points out that when analyzed, the phrase “a bit of a…” is often used in correlation with something negative. As Adolphs puts it, the phrase carries a “negative semantic prosody.” By searching an entire phrase, one can see if that phrase is used in conjunction with positive or negative surroundings.

In yet another application of word frequencies, the practice can be applied to creative works not to necessarily collect data but instead to learn more about the portrayal of a given character. Searching for “Anna” in Anna Karenina, for example, brings forth a list of contexts in which the name Anna was used. From this, one can determine how the author surrounded her name in the novel and more importantly how the character is seen by the reader. In addition to searching for just a name, one can substitute a personal pronoun such as “she” in this case.

In addition to the previous application in the creative field, one can search a corpus or even a single novel to reveal whether or not a narrator is being used, or from which point of view this corpus or novel tends to be in. All of these uses of word frequency go beyond the rather trivial knowledge of how often a word occurs in a given corpus. That knowledge is limited, but given the words context one can see just how that word is being used and what larger implications are at play.