Final answer:
A researcher might want to count the frequency of certain words in a text for several reasons, and option c) 'Emotive words can be used excessively to provoke a moral panic' provides a valid conceptual purpose.
Step-by-step explanation:
A researcher might want to count the frequency of certain words in a text for several reasons, and option c) 'Emotive words can be used excessively to provoke a moral panic' provides a valid conceptual purpose. Counting word frequency aids in analyzing text diction or language choice, and understanding why specific words are used repeatedly. Certain words may stand out because they have strong connotations or are related to a recurring theme, which could reflect underlying messages, cultural contexts, or the author's intentions. Furthermore, high-frequency words could reveal something about a text's composition, such as the excessive use of emotive words to create a particular effect, which is significant in both literary criticism and computational linguistics.