Sentence-level words and phrases that predict skepticism vs. non-skepticism
The following metrics are from the logistic regression classifier's performance on the test set:
| Class | Precision | Recall | F1-Score | Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | 0.900 | 0.749 | 0.817 | 867 |
| Skeptical | 0.268 | 0.526 | 0.356 | 152 |
| Overall Accuracy | 0.715 | 1019 | ||
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ποιῆσαι | to make; to do | 3.7172 | 23 | 9 | 6.26e-13 | 3.13e-10 |
| εἴτε | whether | 3.0190 | 14 | 2 | 3.15e-10 | 1.05e-07 |
| γενέσθαι | to become | 2.9623 | 59 | 85 | 4.63e-14 | 4.63e-11 |
| εἰ | if | 2.6451 | 29 | 47 | 1.04e-06 | 0.000104 |
| ὑπὸ | under; beneath; by (of agent) | 2.6434 | 104 | 283 | 1.07e-09 | 2.68e-07 |
| ταύτην | this one | 2.4353 | 35 | 58 | 1.15e-07 | 1.44e-05 |
| παῖδα | child | 2.3697 | 36 | 79 | 1.36e-05 | 0.000973 |
| ἅιδου | of Hades | 2.1515 | 9 | 6 | 7.66e-05 | 0.00454 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | 2.0636 | 116 | 352 | 2.01e-08 | 4.01e-06 |
| οὐδὲν | nothing | 2.0615 | 19 | 45 | 0.00349 | 0.0908 |
| οὐκ | not | 2.0451 | 74 | 205 | 6.96e-07 | 7.73e-05 |
| οἱ δὲ | but they | 1.8535 | 29 | 81 | 0.00259 | 0.0786 |
| μεγαρεῖσ | Megarians | 1.8341 | 7 | 8 | 0.00412 | 0.0981 |
| ὄνομα | name | 1.8272 | 47 | 94 | 6.8e-08 | 1.13e-05 |
| τοῦτον | this one | 1.7733 | 38 | 77 | 1.71e-06 | 0.000155 |
| ἄνδρασ | men | 1.7003 | 10 | 21 | 0.0184 | 0.236 |
| ὅτωι | to whomever | 1.6809 | 7 | 13 | 0.0299 | 0.284 |
| αὐτήν | her | 1.6246 | 8 | 12 | 0.00761 | 0.132 |
| ἔργα | deeds | 1.6161 | 9 | 20 | 0.0334 | 0.298 |
| ταῦτα | these (things) | 1.5929 | 21 | 80 | 0.139 | 0.541 |
| ἐλθεῖν | to come | 1.5478 | 11 | 13 | 0.000392 | 0.0196 |
| ἀποθανεῖν | to die | 1.5242 | 15 | 26 | 0.000822 | 0.0353 |
| τελευτήσαντοσ | of the deceased | 1.5230 | 8 | 15 | 0.0211 | 0.244 |
| παῖδασ | children | 1.4901 | 14 | 42 | 0.0592 | 0.389 |
| τὸν | the | 1.4899 | 186 | 679 | 9.44e-08 | 1.35e-05 |
| καὶ ἀπὸ | and from | 1.4882 | 11 | 14 | 0.000622 | 0.0283 |
| ποταμὸν | river | 1.4762 | 7 | 12 | 0.0217 | 0.244 |
| λόγοσ | word; speech; account; reason; argument | 1.4429 | 16 | 37 | 0.00613 | 0.116 |
| δʼ | but; and | 1.4344 | 29 | 85 | 0.00472 | 0.103 |
| οἰκῆσαι | to dwell | 1.4197 | 7 | 9 | 0.00668 | 0.121 |
| Word/Phrase | English | Coefficient | Skeptical Count | Non-skeptical Count | p-value | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| θάλασσαν | sea | -2.2047 | 4 | 56 | 0.0697 | 0.422 |
| λακεδαιμονίοισ | to the Lacedaemonians | -1.7903 | 1 | 57 | 0.00138 | 0.0553 |
| δὲ τῆσ | but of the | -1.7882 | 5 | 65 | 0.0358 | 0.309 |
| ἦν | was | -1.7640 | 30 | 197 | 0.359 | 0.788 |
| σφισιν | to them | -1.7290 | 11 | 139 | 0.00259 | 0.0786 |
| τε | and | -1.6765 | 132 | 882 | 0.0207 | 0.244 |
| τότε | then; at that time | -1.3560 | 14 | 114 | 0.145 | 0.541 |
| κατʼ | according to; against; down | -1.3160 | 2 | 29 | 0.215 | 0.652 |
| πόλισ | city | -1.3045 | 1 | 38 | 0.0232 | 0.252 |
| ὁδὸν | road | -1.2902 | 2 | 41 | 0.054 | 0.389 |
| ἐστι | is | -1.2779 | 23 | 190 | 0.0505 | 0.377 |
| ἔχων | having | -1.2383 | 2 | 38 | 0.0768 | 0.435 |
| λίθου | of a stone | -1.2288 | 4 | 66 | 0.0193 | 0.244 |
| παῖδεσ | children | -1.2155 | 2 | 44 | 0.0378 | 0.309 |
| ἔσχε | he/she/it had | -1.2051 | 0 | 27 | 0.0266 | 0.266 |
| ἔχουσα | having (feminine) | -1.1997 | 1 | 20 | 0.235 | 0.656 |
| ἔσχεν | he/she/it had | -1.1727 | 0 | 27 | 0.0266 | 0.266 |
| ἐστίν | is (he/she/it is) | -1.1654 | 1 | 38 | 0.0232 | 0.252 |
| ὁδὸσ | road; way | -1.1485 | 0 | 23 | 0.0386 | 0.309 |
| καὶ | and | -1.1457 | 463 | 2736 | 0.0297 | 0.284 |
| ἐσ τὸ | into the | -1.1418 | 15 | 123 | 0.124 | 0.521 |
| πρὶν | before | -1.1166 | 9 | 46 | 0.831 | 0.993 |
| παρέχεται | is provided | -1.1062 | 2 | 22 | 0.567 | 0.899 |
| μάλιστα | especially; very much; certainly | -1.1025 | 21 | 168 | 0.0881 | 0.472 |
| ἀνάκειται | is set up | -1.0633 | 0 | 18 | 0.0954 | 0.472 |
| θέασ | of a view | -1.0606 | 1 | 52 | 0.00317 | 0.0882 |
| ἀρχήν | at first | -1.0467 | 3 | 30 | 0.466 | 0.881 |
| τὴν ἀρχὴν | the beginning | -1.0355 | 2 | 25 | 0.418 | 0.844 |
| εἰσι | they are | -1.0335 | 2 | 27 | 0.3 | 0.748 |
| αἱ | the | -1.0334 | 7 | 93 | 0.0103 | 0.162 |
This reduced model keeps only the words or phrases with q-value below 0.1, then turns them into a simple checklist.
Start at -0.64 points. If one of the items below appears at least once, add its points once. If the final score ends above 0, classify the text as Skeptical. That is the same as saying the listed word-points must add up past +0.64.
Full logistic model: 71.5% | Simplified checklist: 74.0% | Always guess Non-skeptical: 85.1%
This shorter model uses 44 statistically strong vocabulary items.
These confusion matrices show which texts each approach gets right and where it makes false alarms or misses.
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 649 | 218 |
| Skeptical | 72 | 80 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 668 | 199 |
| Skeptical | 66 | 86 | |
| Predicted | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-skeptical | Skeptical | ||
| Actual | Non-skeptical | 867 | 0 |
| Skeptical | 152 | 0 | |
| Word/Phrase | English | Points If Seen | Pushes Toward | q-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| εἴτε | whether | +5.54 | Skeptical | 1.05e-07 |
| οὐ μὴν | however | +4.33 | Skeptical | 0.00899 |
| ποιῆσαι | to make; to do | +2.97 | Skeptical | 3.13e-10 |
| μὴν | indeed; surely | -2.46 | Non-skeptical | 0.0272 |
| μεγαρεῖσ | Megarians | +2.35 | Skeptical | 0.0981 |
| λακεδαιμονίοισ | to the Lacedaemonians | -2.32 | Non-skeptical | 0.0553 |
| ἅιδου | of Hades | +2.05 | Skeptical | 0.00454 |
| θέασ | of a view | -2.03 | Non-skeptical | 0.0882 |
| καὶ ἀπὸ | and from | +1.48 | Skeptical | 0.0283 |
| ἐλθεῖν | to come | +1.42 | Skeptical | 0.0196 |
| ταύτην | this one | +1.41 | Skeptical | 1.44e-05 |
| δʼ ἂν | but would | +1.37 | Skeptical | 0.00454 |
| εἰ | if | +1.21 | Skeptical | 0.000104 |
| γενέσθαι | to become | +1.17 | Skeptical | 4.63e-11 |
| σφισιν | to them | -1.14 | Non-skeptical | 0.0786 |
| τὸ ὕδωρ | the water | +1.12 | Skeptical | 0.0699 |
| παῖδα | child | +1.02 | Skeptical | 0.000973 |
| αὐτόν | him | +1.02 | Skeptical | 0.0579 |
| καὶ τοῦτο | and this | +1.01 | Skeptical | 0.0682 |
| οὐδὲν | nothing | +0.99 | Skeptical | 0.0908 |
| τοῦτον | this one | +0.94 | Skeptical | 0.000155 |
| τὴν γῆν | the land | +0.91 | Skeptical | 0.0814 |
| ἐπεὶ | since | +0.87 | Skeptical | 0.0908 |
| λόγον | word | +0.84 | Skeptical | 0.00404 |
| εἴη | may it be; let it be | +0.80 | Skeptical | 0.0848 |
| ὑπὸ | under; beneath; by (of agent) | +0.80 | Skeptical | 2.68e-07 |
| ὄνομα | name | +0.76 | Skeptical | 1.13e-05 |
| ἀποθανεῖν | to die | +0.75 | Skeptical | 0.0353 |
| ἄνδρα | man | +0.69 | Skeptical | 0.000418 |
| οἱ δὲ | but they | +0.68 | Skeptical | 0.0786 |
| οὐκ | not | +0.59 | Skeptical | 7.73e-05 |
| οὐδὲ | nor | +0.50 | Skeptical | 0.0353 |
| καὶ ὡσ | and as | +0.49 | Skeptical | 0.0564 |
| ὡσ | as; like; how; that; when | +0.33 | Skeptical | 4.01e-06 |
| ὁμήρου | of Homer | +0.32 | Skeptical | 0.0981 |
| ἄλλωσ | otherwise | +0.31 | Skeptical | 0.0908 |
| ἂν | a modal particle indicating potentiality, often rendered "would" or "might"; with relatives/temporals it adds "-ever" (e.g., "whoever," "whenever") | +0.31 | Skeptical | 0.00962 |
| τὸν | the | +0.25 | Skeptical | 1.35e-05 |
| τοῦτο | this | +0.22 | Skeptical | 0.0981 |
| τῆι | to the | +0.19 | Skeptical | 0.0786 |
| ἐστιν | is | -0.19 | Non-skeptical | 0.0699 |
| τὸ ὄνομα | the name | +0.18 | Skeptical | 0.000155 |
| τῆι πόλει | for the city | -0.04 | Non-skeptical | 0.0908 |
| τὴν | the | +0.03 | Skeptical | 0.0981 |