1.2.5 Interpret the results

When interpreting the data, it has to be kept in mind that the obtained “introspection judgements are not judgements on the grammaticality of a structure as such but on its acceptability” (Hoffmann, Chapter 5). However, “the results from Magnitude Estimation studies can be interpreted in a linguistically meaningful way (i.e. that linguistic features can be statistically identified as systematically affecting judgements)” (Hoffmann, Chapter 5). The informant's ratings yield information about the acceptability of certain exemplars, with a high acceptability rate suggesting a more prototyipical, and a low acceptability rate indicating a more a-typical exemplar. Make sure that your interpretation of the results focuses exactly on the linguistic features you were going to research when designing the experiment. Try to answer questions such as:

• Which are the striking results?
• What can be said about individual or group ratings?
• How can the results be compared per item and group/informant?
• Which results contradict your/general expectancies?
• Is there a trend you can identify and put into words?
• ...

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