LIN305 Quantitative Methods LHW2 Fall 2016 LONG Homework Assignment #2 Logistics  The homework is due on Wednesday, November 2nd.  If you are unable to attend class, please ask a friend to hand it in for you, or place your work in the LIN305 assignment box before 12pm.  Late assignments will be penalized (see syllabus for details). Assignment Your assignment is to construct materials for an experiment, following the principles of experimental design we discussed in class. This is an acceptability judgment experiment that examines how the form of the first clause (the underlined one) affects the grammaticality of ellipsis in the second clause. There are three conditions, which differ in the form of the verb phrase (the bolded part): a. Main verb phrase: None of the astronomers saw the comet, but John did. b. Embedded verb phrase: Seeing the comet was nearly impossible, but John did. c. Verb phrase with gap: The comet was nearly impossible to see, but John did. In class we talked about an experiment that had a 2x2 design, and created four lists. The design here is different, as there are only three conditions. Your task is (i) to construct concrete token sets; (ii) add filler/distractor sentences; (iii) order all materials for presentation. As a refresher, you may wish to read Gries, chapter 1, section 4 (pp. 48-57). Note that the assignment first describes what to do, and then gives instructions on how to write it up. (i) Create 9 concrete token sets of experimental sentences. Use the example given above in the three conditions, use the five examples below to create more examples, and then come up with 3 (completely new) additional examples. 2. Few people heard the distant siren, but luckily Jane did. 3. No fireman detected the faint signal, but the dogs did. 4. Almost nobody approached the lion, tut the trainer did. 5. Few people mentioned the scandal, but today Tom did. 6. Almost nobody predicted the direction of the tornado, but Channel 7 did. As an answer to this step, discuss the properties of the experimental items: what do they have in common? What did you change between items? (ii) Add filler sentences. As an answer to this step, (i) decide and motivate the number of fillers; (ii) describe and motivate the type of fillers you will use, and give examples to support your answer (think: what can participants learn if you do NOT add fillers?). (iii) Order your materials. As an answer, create a table with a column for each presentation list, ordering the sentences for that list in the column (experimental sentences should be bolded).