Comparing manual and automated methods for calculating speaking rate in Parkinson's disease

This study compared manual and automated methods for calculating speaking rate in recorded samples from individuals with Parkinson's disease. The manual procedure involved trained researchers measuring speaking rate through manual counting and acoustic analysis of speech units and pauses, while the automated method utilized a custom praat script developed by de Jong and Wempe [(2009). Behav. Res. Methods 41(2), 385-390]. Results indicated moderate agreement between methods, strongest when the automated script was optimized per speaker. Despite the limitations of an automated approach, this research supports the potential of automation in speaking rate analysis and provides a basis for future refinement in clinical and research contexts.