Introduction

This chapter sets the scene for the book by presenting an argument on the relevance and value of data analytic techniques for discourse analysis. Psychotherapy, the ‘talking cure’, is put forward as a focal example where such techniques can offer concrete solutions to practical issues that concern discourse researchers and therapy practitioners alike. These include (1) simulation of incomplete or missing data, (2) measurement of therapist–client linguistic synchrony, (3) prediction of therapy-relevant categories from language use, and (4) modeling and forecasting of language use across treatment sessions. Since these issues exist in some form or other in comparable discourse domains like media, politics, and education, the introduced techniques are also applicable in these domains. The structure and objectives of the book are then explained, with Chapters 2 to 5 each focusing on an issue and a corresponding data analytic technique and Chapter 6 drawing the conclusion. After a general discussion on the quantification of language, the chapter ends with a brief introduction to the Python programming language and its use throughout the book.