Introduction to the Virtual Issue: Recent Innovations in Text Analysis for Social Science

Abstract

In 2008, Political Analysis published a groundbreaking special issue on the analysis of political text, examining some of the initial efforts in political science to consider text as a data source and to develop methods for analyzing text data. 1 In their introduction to the special issue, Monroe and Schrodt (2008) note that text -one of the most common mediums through which political phenomenon are documented -is underutilized in the social sciences and they argue for further research.They suggest the research discussed in the special issue should be a jumping-off point, or "departure lounge" for future text as data research.Answering their call, in the last eight years, the field of "text as data" in social science has grown dramatically.As the number of sources and types of textual data documenting social science phenomenon has exploded, so too have methods for, and the use of, text analysis in social science research.The articles included in this virtual issue of Political Analysis showcase how the study of text analysis in political science has built on these initial political science approaches.This virtual issue includes:1. Grimmer, Justin, and Brandon M. Stewart."Text as data: The promise and pitfalls of automatic content analysis methods for political texts.

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