Methods of linguistic data collection are among the most central aspects in empirical linguistics. While written questionnaires have only played a minor role in the field of social dialectology, the study of regional and social variation, the last decade has seen a methodological revival. This book is the first monograph-length account on written questionnaires in more than 60 years. It reconnects – for the newcomer and the more seasoned empirical linguist alike – the older questionnaire tradition, last given serious treatment in the 1950s, with the more recent instantiations, reincarnations and new developments in an up-to-date, near-comprehensive account. A disciplinary history of the method sets the scene for a discussion of essential theoretical aspects in dialectology and sociolinguistics. The book is rounded off by a step-by-step practical guide – from study idea to data analysis and statistics – that includes hands-on sections on Excel and the statistical suite R for the novice.

This collection identifies the main theoretical and methodological issues currently preoccupying researchers in social dialectology, drawing not only on variation in English in the UK, USA, New Zealand, Europe and elsewhere but also in Arabic, Greek, Norwegian and Spanish dialects. The volume brings together previously unpublished work by the world's most prolific and well-respected social dialectologists as well as by some younger, dynamic researchers. Together the authors provide new perspectives on both the traditional areas of sociolinguistic variation and change and the newer fields of dialect formation, dialect diffusion and dialect levelling.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!! Named a Best Book of 2019 by TIME, Amazon, and The Washington Post A Wired Must-Read Book of Summer “Gretchen McCulloch is the internet’s favorite linguist, and this book is essential reading. Reading her work is like suddenly being able to see the matrix.” —Jonny Sun, author of everyone's a aliebn when ur a aliebn too Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Language is humanity's most spectacular open-source project, and the internet is making our language change faster and in more interesting ways than ever before. Internet conversations are structured by the shape of our apps and platforms, from the grammar of status updates to the protocols of comments and @replies. Linguistically inventive online communities spread new slang and jargon with dizzying speed. What's more, social media is a vast laboratory of unedited, unfiltered words where we can watch language evolve in real time. Even the most absurd-looking slang has genuine patterns behind it. Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch explores the deep forces that shape human language and influence the way we communicate with one another. She explains how your first social internet experience influences whether you prefer "LOL" or "lol," why ~sparkly tildes~ succeeded where centuries of proposals for irony punctuation had failed, what emoji have in common with physical gestures, and how the artfully disarrayed language of animal memes like lolcats and doggo made them more likely to spread.

The second edition of Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications continues to provide up-to-date, succinct, relevant, and informative discussion about methods of data collection in sociolinguistic research. Written by a range of top sociolinguists, both veteran and emerging scholars, it covers the main areas of research design, conducting research, and sharing data findings. In addition to revisions of original material, this edition includes nine new vignettes covering such topics as collecting data from social media, conducting linguistic landscape research, forensic linguistic data collection, and working with transgender communities. A companion website, http://sociolinguisticdatacollection.com, provides enhanced pedagogical features such as discussion questions, activities, end-of-chapter exercises, and contributor videos. This volume is the one-stop, go-to guide for the numerous quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods used in sociolinguistic research; it is the ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in sociolinguistic research, field methods and data collection.

The Handbook of Dialectology provides an authoritative, up-to-date and unusually broad account of the study of dialect, in one volume. Each chapter reviews essential research, and offers a critical discussion of the past, present and future development of the area. The volume is based on state-of-the-art research in dialectology around the world, providing the most current work available with an unusually broad scope of topics Provides a practical guide to the many methodological and statistical issues surrounding the collection and analysis of dialect data Offers summaries of dialect variation in the world's most widely spoken and commonly studied languages, including several non-European languages that have traditionally received less attention in general discussions of dialectology Reviews the intellectual development of the field, including its main theoretical schools of thought and research traditions, both academic and applied The editors are well known and highly respected, with a deep knowledge of this vast field of inquiry

As a comprehensive account of all aspects of dialectology this updated edition makes an ideal introduction to the subject.

Doing Sociolinguistics: A practical guide to data collection and analysis provides an accessible introduction and guide to the methods of data collection and analysis in the field of sociolinguistics. It offers students the opportunity to engage directly with some of the foundational and more innovative work being done in the quantitative or variationist paradigm. Divided into sixteen short chapters, Doing Sociolinguistics: can be used as a core text in class or as an easy reference whilst undertaking research walks readers through the different phases of a sociolinguistic project, providing all the knowledge and skills students will need to conduct their own analyses of language features excerpts from key research articles; exercises with real data from the authors’ own research; sample answers to the exercises; and further reading is supported by the Routledge Sociolinguistics Companion website (www.routledge.com/textbooks/meyerhoff) which features further online exercises with sound files. Designed to function as both a core text for methods classes in sociolinguistics and as a companion to the Routledge textbook Introducing Sociolinguistics, this book will be essential reading for all students studying and researching in this area.