Text Mining the OBP.pdf (851.06 kB)
The Old Bailey Proceedings, 1674–1913: text mining for evidence of court behavior
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 04:30 authored by Tim Hitchcock, William J TurkelThis article uses text and data mining methodologies to explore the distribution of text among the 197,000 trials published as part of the Old Bailey Proceedings, 1674-1913. By testing how the Proceedings report trials that resulted from different charges and pleas it argues that historians need to be wary of their use as evidence for eighteenth-century court behaviour. It also demonstrates that the Proceedings give a much fuller account of nineteenth-century trials, and provides evidence derived from the distribution of words between trials for the early and growing importance of “plea bargaining” in the nineteenth century, resulting in a significant transformation in the character of the criminal trial.
Funding
Datamining with Criminal Intent; AHRC
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Law and History ReviewISSN
0738-2480Publisher
Cambridge University PressExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
34Page range
929-955Department affiliated with
- History Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Humanities Lab Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-01-03First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-01-03First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2016-12-29Usage metrics
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