Word Count Guidelines
This table outlines the minimum word count requirements for generating reliable psycholinguistic insights across Receptiviti and LIWC measures. These word count thresholds reflect the amount of text needed to produce statistically valid and interpretable results. Shorter texts may yield noisy or incomplete outputs, while meeting or exceeding ideal counts enhances reliability, particularly for nuanced psychological interpretation. In general, more language yields more robust the analysis.
Word count requirements exist in language analysis because there needs to be enough language to reliably measure how a person's linguistic choices reflect certain patterns, especially those that are less common. This is similar to behavioral analysis, where it takes fewer observations to measure something people do frequently, like smiling, than something rarer, like eye rolling.
At word counts below the minimum requirement (even as low as a single word), proportional scores remain accurate, reflecting the proportion of relevant words in the analyzed text, but offer limited interpretability. For psychologically meaningful insights, we recommend adhering to the minimum word count requirements—even when using proportional measures.
| Framework | Bare Minimum Word Count Requirement |
|---|---|
| Personality - Big 5 | 350 |
| Drives | 350 |
| Cognition | 350 |
| Social Dynamics | 350 |
| Needs and Values | 350 |
| Personality - DISC | 350 |
| Interpersonal Circumplex | 350 |
| Fast and Slow Thinking | 350 |
| LIWC (Summary Variables) | 50-200 |
| LIWC (Linguistic Dimensions) | 50-200 |
| LIWC (Other Grammar) | 50-200 |
| LIWC (Psychological Processes) | 200 |
| LIWC Extension | 200 |
| Emotions (SALLEE) | 1 |
| Temporal and Orientation | 200 |
| Toxicity | 10 - 20 |