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07:32 16 June 2013 Data Collection in Sociolinguistics Data Collection in Sociolinguistics: Methods and Applications is an accessible, contemporary guide to data collection, a central pursuit of sociolinguistic research. Contributions by veteran as well as up-and-coming sociolinguists cover methods of data collection, whether generating new data or when working with existing data, and tackle important questions of ethics, data sharing, data preser- vation, and community outreach. Other cutting-edge topics, featured in main chapters and in shorter, reader-friendly vignettes, include the use of public docu- ments, virtual world research, collecting online data, working with video data, and cross-cultural issues in data collection. A comprehensive volume, Data Col- lection in Sociolinguistics is set to become an indispensable guide for students and scholars interested in both the broad outlines and the fner details of socio- linguistic data collection. Christine Mallinson is Associate Professor of Language, Literacy, and Culture and Afliate Associate Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies at the Univer- sity of Maryland-Baltimore County. Becky Childs is Associate Professor of English at Coastal Carolina University. Gerard Van Herk is Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair in Regional Language and Oral Text at Memorial University of Newfoundland. 07:32 16 June 2013 Data Collection in Sociolinguistics Methods and Applications Edited by Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk 07:32 16 June 2013 First published 2013 by Routledge 711 Tird Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk Te right of Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk to be identifed as the editors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafer invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifcation and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Data Collection in Sociolinguistics : Methods and Applications/ Edited by Christine Mallinson, Becky Childs, and Gerard Van Herk ; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Coastal Carolina University, and Memorial University of Newfoundland. pages cm 1. Sociolinguistics–Research–Methodology. 2. Qualitative research. I. Mallinson, Christine. II. Childs, Becky. III. Van Herk, Gerard. P40.3.D38 2013 306.440723–dc23 2012042040 ISBN: 978-0-415-89856-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-415-89857-7 (pbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-13606-5 (ebk) Typeset in Minion by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear 07:32 16 June 2013 Contents List of Illustrations x Foreword: Observing the Observers xi J. K. CHAMBERS Acknowledgments xv Copyright Acknowledgments xvi PART I Research Design 1 1 Research Design 3 C HRISTINE MALLINSON 2 Ways of Observing: Studying the Interplay of Social and Linguistic Variation 7 B ARBARA M. HORVATH Vignette 2a. Multidisciplinary Sociolinguistic Studies 17 M ARCIA FARR Vignette 2b. How to Uncover Linguistic Variables 21 W ALT WOLFRAM 07:32 16 June 2013 Vignette 2c. How to Uncover Social Variables: A Focus on Clans 25 J AMES N. STANFORD Vignette 2d. How to Uncover Social Variables: A Focus on Social Class 29 R ANIA HABIB vi Contents 3 Social Ethics for Sociolinguistics 33 S ARA TRECHTER Vignette 3a. Responsibility to Research Participants in Representation 46 N IKO BESNIER Vignette 3b. Conducting Research with Vulnerable Populations 50 S TEPHEN L. MANN Vignette 3c. Ethical Dilemmas in the Use of Public Documents 54 S USAN EHRLICH Vignette 3d. Real Ethical Issues in Virtual World Research 58 R ANDALL SADLER PART II Generating New Data 63 4 Generating New Data 65 B ECKY CHILDS 5 Ethnographic Fieldwork 69 E REZ LEVON Vignette 5a. Fieldwork in Immigrant Communities 80 J AMES A. WALKER AND MICHOL F. HOFFMAN Vignette 5b. Fieldwork in Migrant and Diasporic Communities 84 R AJEND MESTHRIE 07:32 16 June 2013 Vignette 5c. Fieldwork in Remnant Dialect Communities 87 P ATRICIA CAUSEY NICHOLS 6 Te Sociolinguistic Interview 91 K ARA BECKER Vignette 6a. Cross- cultural Issues in Studying Endangered Indigenous Languages 101 D. VICTORIA RAU Contents vii Vignette 6b. Conducting Sociolinguistic Interviews in Deaf Communities 105 C EIL LUCAS Vignette 6c. Special Issues in Collecting Interview Data for Sign Language Projects 110 J OSEPH HILL Vignette 6d. Other Interviewing Techniques in Sociolinguistics 114 B OYD DAVIS 7 Te Technology of Conducting Sociolinguistic Interviews 118 P AUL DE DECKER AND JENNIFER NYCZ Vignette 7a. Technological Challenges in Sociolinguistic Data Collection 127 L AUREN HALL- L EW AND BARTLOMIEJ PLICHTA 8 Surveys: Te Use of Written Questionnaires in Sociolinguistics 131 C HARLES BOBERG Vignette 8a. Language Attitude Surveys: Speaker Evaluation Studies 142 K ATHRYN CAMPBELL- K IBLER Vignette 8b. Cultural Challenges in Online Survey Data Collection 147 N AOMI S. BARON 9 Experiments 151 C YNTHIA G. CLOPPER 07:32 16 June 2013 PART III Working with and Preserving Existing Data 163 10 Working with and Preserving Existing Data 165 G ERARD VAN HERK 11 Written Data Sources 169 E DGAR W. SCHNEIDER viii Contents Vignette 11a. Accessing the Vernacular in Written Documents 179 F RANCE MARTINEAU Vignette 11b. Adapting Existing Data Sources: Language and the Law 183 P HILIPP SEBASTIAN ANGERMEYER Vignette 11c. Advances in Sociolinguistic Transcription Methods 187 A LEXANDRA D’ARCY Vignette 11d. Transcribing Video Data 191 CÉCILE B. VIGOUROUX 12 Data Preservation and Access 195 T YLER KENDALL Vignette 12a. Making Sociolinguistic Data Accessible 206 WILLIAM A. KRETZ SCHMAR, JR . Vignette 12b. Establishing Corpora from Existing Data Sources 210 M ARK DAVIES Vignette 12c. Working with “Unconventional” Existing Data Sources 213 J OAN C. BEAL AND KAREN P. CORRIGAN 13 Working with Performed Language: Movies, Television, and Music 217 R OBIN QUEEN Vignette 13a. Working with Scripted Data: A Focus on 07:32 16 June 2013 African American English 228 T RACEY L. WELDON Vignette 13b. Working with Scripted Data: Variations among Scripts, Texts, and Performances 232 M ICHAEL ADAMS 14 Online Data Collection 236 J ANNIS ANDROUTSOPOULOS Contents ix PART IV Sharing Data and Findings 251 15 Sharing Data and Findings 253 C HRISTINE MALLINSON 16 Community Activism: Turning Tings Around 258 A RAPERA NGAHA 17 Sociolinguistic Engagement in Schools: Collecting and Sharing Data 269 A NNE H. CHARITY HUDLEY Vignette 17a. Beyond Lists of Diferences to Accurate Descriptions 281 L ISA GREEN Vignette 17b. Linguistic Flexibility in Urban Zambian Schoolchildren 286 R OBERT SERPELL Vignette 17c. Engagement with Schools: Sharing Data and Findings 290 D ONNA STARKS 18 Sociolinguistics in and for the Media 293 J ENNIFER SCLAFANI Vignette 18a. Media Interest in Sociolinguistic Endeavors 304 S COTT F. KIESLING Vignette 18b. Sociolinguistics on BBC Radio 308 C LIVE UPTON 07:32 16 June 2013 Vignette 18c. Media, Politics, and Semantic Change 314 A NDREW D. WONG 19 Conclusion 318 C HRISTINE MALLINSON, BECKY CHILDS, AND G ERARD VAN HERK List of Contributors 319 Index 325 Illustrations Figures 3d.1 A Group Meeting in Second Life 59 14.1 Screen- Based and User- Based Data in CMC Research 241 18b.1 (PLAY TRUANT) Top Ten Variants 311 18b.2 (PLAY TRUANT), Variant ‘Mitch (Of ),’ by Postcode Area 312 Tables 3d.1 Risk Analysis in VW Research 61 11.1 Categorization of Text Types According to Teir Proximity to Speech 171 11c.1 Transcription with Performers Given Equal “Visual Weight” 192 12c.1 Snapshot of Website Activity, March 31, 2009–October 7, 2009 215 18b.1 (PLAY TRUANT), All Variants, Ages <16 to 85 309 18b.2 (PLAY TRUANT), All Variants by Age, Gender as Percentage of Column 310 18b.3 (PLAY TRUANT), Variant ‘Mitch (Of ),’ Distribution by Postcode Area 311 07:32 16 June 2013 Foreword Observing the Observers J. K. Chambers Te ideal data for studying the social uses of language, as all the authors in this book agree, are speech produced in natural circumstances, unmonitored and carefree. Getting access to that kind of speech is challenging, for obvious reasons. For starters, in order to make the speech accessible for study it must be elicited, and eliciting speech usually introduces “foreign” elements into the speech act, including the presence of an outsider (the investigator), recording devices (microphones in plain view), controlled ambience (full attention and relative quiet), and strange tasks interspersed with conversation (reading a text or word list, identifying pictures and other means to guarantee comparable material from all subjects). Te act of observing speech alters its nature. Sociolinguists seek to observe speech as people use it when they are not being observed. Tat is the “observer’s paradox,” and it has been a central preoccupa- tion of sociolinguistic methodology from the beginning (Labov, 1972, p. 61). It is, naturally, a central preoccupation of this book; it is cited explicitly in the chapters and vignettes by Kara Becker, Niko Besnier, Charles Boberg, Becky Childs, Cynthia G. Clopper, Paul De Decker and Jennifer Nycz, and Sara Trech- ter. It is implicit almost everywhere. In the four eventful decades since William Labov gave a name to the observer’s paradox, sociolinguists have come up with several ways of neutralizing it. Indeed, one of the rewarding sub- themes of this book is discovering how the experienced feldworkers who contributed the chapters and vignettes got around it.
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