NB: If the video doesn't appear above, you can find it here.

For this exercise you will need to access the online Oxford English Dictionary (linked here, Harvard ID required). After viewing the video above and becoming acquainted with the OED Advanced Search options, search for words borrowed from French in 50 year intervals beginning with 1001–1050, 1051–1100, and so on up to 1700. Tabulate your results. Then make a graph to display the pattern.

Then do two more things. First, explore more search options. For example, you can view the results by field (economics, government, religion) by choosing that option in the Advanced Search window. Or adjust the results by choosing only higher-frequency words. There are other ways you can manipulate the data. Play around with the options to see how your choices influence the results.

Second, after exploring the options, give your thoughts on what kinds of choices would produce more meaningful or accurate results. Are there flaws or blind spots or misleading results in this way of looking at data? Are there any fields or schools of learning that are not represented? If you were to update the advanced search options of the OED, what changes would you make?