A robustness approach to operationalizations of iconicity

Abstract The complex processes behind construals of iconicity present a challenge for operationalizations of iconicity in scientific investigations. This chapter explores how the notion of robustness from philosophy of science can be used to get to the bottom of what it is that we really measure when we measure iconicity. While iconicity itself refers to a resemblance between form and meaning, individuals’ construals of iconicity are shaped by the interaction of a much broader set of factors including not only form–meaning resemblances but also other types of form–meaning relations in language, as well as independent processes relating to linguistic experience. To untangle the varying contributions of these different factors, future investigations of iconicity should focus on diversifying the viewpoints from which they examine iconicity to ensure ecological validity, shifting objects of study from decontextualized signs to situated “composite utterances,” and triangulating insights from mixed qualitative and quantitative measures.