Tsunoda, Ueda, and Itoh (1995a). Tsunoda et al. (1995a) applied cluster analyses to the word order parameters in Tsunoda, Ueda, and Itoh’s (1995b) database and identified as the main component the word order parameter category “prepositional,” thus positing a basic dichotomy between prepositional languages versus adpositionless and postpositional languages. We reanalyze the same data using MCA, together with certain clustering techniques, applied to both the languages and the linguistic parameters in Tsunoda et al.’s (1995b) database simultaneously. This approach confirms the significance of word order parameters involving adposition but suggests a reconsideration of Tsunoda et al.’s (1995a) classification. We find a dichotomy between a cluster of “head-initial” (prepositional, verb-object, and noun-genitive) parameter categories versus a cluster of “head-final” (postpositional, object-verb, and genitive-noun) parameter categories similar to those often grouped together by linguists on the basis of informal cross-linguistic observations. We also find that Noun Phrase internal word order parameters, excepting parameter governing the order of noun and genitive, cluster separately from the others.

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Some literature on Japanese grammar has argued that Japanese postpositions ni and e are not differentially comprehended by native Japanese speakers reading sentences that include these postpositions. Other Japanese grammar books, however, explain that ni and e have clearly different meanings. This study was designed to ascertain whether Japanese readers can, in fact, distinguish between ni and e during sentence comprehension. Two experiments were conducted in which news headings were presented with or without ni or e , or after interchanging ni and e. Participants read the headings silently, or read them aloud, while the reading time was measured. The results of silent reading indicated no evidence that participants consciously differentiated between ni and e. The results of oral reading, however, indicated that participants took significantly longer for reading headings when e was replaced by ni than when reading the corresponding original headings. These findings indicated that participants experience difficulty in inferring meaning due to the replaced postposition, ni. It is concluded that native speakers can comprehend the difference between ni and e , especially when they read headings.

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Early telephone surveys were conducted by selecting samples from telephone directories and public registers. Due to errors in survey results caused by under-coverage of individuals not listed in telephone directories, telephone survey methodology changed from the original list-assisted model to Random Digit Dialing (RDD). Surveys for samples added cell phone numbers are able to cover cell-phone-only (CPO) individuals, which now includes many young and middle-aged persons. The downsides to mobile surveys are that they have a very low response rate, and that in Japan it is difficult to obtain proper regional information from a telephone number. This article offers information to aid in the process of deciding whether or not to use telephone surveys.

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