Written Communication Jul 2012 Open Access

Keystroke Analysis: Reflections on Procedures and Measures

Veerle M. Baaijen ; David Galbraith University of Southampton ; Kees de Glopper University of Groningen

Abstract

Although keystroke logging promises to provide a valuable tool for writing research, it can often be difficult to relate logs to underlying processes. This article describes the procedures and measures that the authors developed to analyze a sample of 80 keystroke logs, with a view to achieving a better alignment between keystroke-logging measures and underlying cognitive processes. They used these measures to analyze pauses, bursts, and revisions and found that (a) burst lengths vary depending on their initiation type as well as their termination type, suggesting that the classification system used in previous research should be elaborated; (b) mixture models fit pause duration data better than unimodal central tendency statistics; and (c) individuals who pause for longer at sentence boundaries produce shorter but more well-formed bursts. A principal components analysis identified three underlying dimensions in these data: planned text production, within-sentence revision, and revision of global text structure.

Journal
Written Communication
Published
2012-07-01
DOI
10.1177/0741088312451108
CompPile
Open Access
OA PDF Green
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Citation context

Cited by in this index (11)

  1. Mahernia (2026)
    Syntagmatic and Functional Context of Pauses During Writing: A Hallidayan Perspective
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  2. Gao et al. (2026)
    Modeling Writing Processes and Predicting Text Quality in Technical Communication
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  3. Wang et al. (2024)
    Comparing Chinese L2 writing performance in paper-based and computer-based mode…
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  4. Vandermeulen et al. (2023)
    Writing Process Feedback Based on Keystroke Logging and Comparison With Exempla…
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  5. Schneier (2023)
    Modeling Mobile Writing: Applying Sociocognitive Models of Writing to Mobile Contexts
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  1. Conijn et al. (2022)
    A Product- and Process-Oriented Tagset for Revisions in Writing
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  2. Bowen et al. (2020)
    Exploring Revisions in Academic Text: Closing the Gap Between Process and Produ…
    Written Communication
  3. Zarrabi et al. (2020)
    EFL Students’ Cognitive Performance during Argumentative Essay Writing: A log-f…
    Computers and Composition
  4. Conijn et al. (2019)
    How to Typo? Building a Process-Based Model of Typographic Error Revisions
    Journal of Writing Analytics
  5. Limpo et al. (2017)
    Written Language Bursts Mediate the Relationship Between Transcription Skills a…
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  6. Leijten et al. (2013)
    Keystroke Logging in Writing Research: Using Inputlog to Analyze and Visualize …
    Written Communication

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CrossRef global citation count: 86 View in citation network → Build reading path →

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