The Necessity of Controlling for Genre in the Experimental Design
Abstract
Several telling historical examples of the necessity of controlling for genre are discussed. Ledger’s cherry-picking of data and his introduction of fudge factors are shown to be his way of getting around the necessity of controlling for genre. Examples of studies that recognized the need for such controls are shown. Examples of studies that stated they should have designed their experiment to control for genres are highlighted. The warning is given that every attribution study is different, but the concept of controlling for genres is universal.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Authorship Attribution and Profiling
Discourse Analysis in Language Studies
Psychology Research and Bibliometrics
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Routledge eBooks
- Pages
- 89–101
- Publication date
- 26 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter