PYTHON TEXT ANALYSIS

 

Text is everywhere, and it is a fantastic resource for social scientists. However, because it is so abundant, and because language is so variable, it is often difficult to extract the information we want. There is a whole subfield of AI concerned with text analysis (natural language processing). Many of the basic analysis methods developed are now readily available as Python implementations. (Cambridge Press - Text Analysis in Python)

A large amount of data that is generated today is unstructured, which requires processing to generate insights. Some examples of unstructured data are news articles, posts on social media, and search history. The process of analyzing natural language and making sense out of it falls under the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). Sentiment analysis is a common NLP task, which involves classifying texts or parts of texts into a pre-defined sentiment. (Digital Ocean - Sentiment Analysis In Python) 

From news and speeches to informal chatter on social media, natural language is one of the richest and most underutilized sources of data. Not only does it come in a constant stream, always changing and adapting in context; it also contains information that is not conveyed by traditional data sources. The key to unlocking natural language is through the creative application of text analytics. (O'Reilly - Applied Text Analysis With Python)