Methods and Tools of Quantification in Historical Research. Napoleonic Employment Applications as a Case Study

With the advent of Digital Humanities offering innovative tools for historical research, this chapter evaluates their benefits and drawbacks using the Napoleonic Employment Applications project (NapApps) as a case study. After examining data structuring and categorization, it analyses 800 application letters from candidates for the Napoleonic administration to investigate aspects of professionalization. Focusing in particular on willingness to relocate and associated rhetorical strategies, the study identifies specific trends and distinctive vocabulary patterns. Following an evaluation of various text mining techniques along with their strengths and limitations, it explores methods that integrate text analysis with metadata about the authors. It concludes by arguing that this integrated approach provides a robust means for investigating historical phenomena.