Field research refers to research conducted with a high degree of naturalism. The first part of this chapter provides a definition of field research and discusses advantages and limitations. We then provide a brief overview of observational field research methods, followed by an in-depth overview of experimental field research methods. We discuss randomization schemes of different types in field experimentation, such as cluster randomization, block randomization, and randomized rollout or waitlist designs, as well as statistical implementation concerns when conducting field experiments, including spillover, attrition, and noncompliance. The second part of the chapter provides an overview of important considerations when conducting field research. We discuss the psychology of construal in the design of field research, conducting non-WEIRD field research, replicability and generalizability, and how technological advances have impacted field research. We end by discussing career considerations for psychologists who want to get involved in field research.

Chapter 9 examines how speech acts associated with ritual can be examined in a replicable way. The chapter makes an argument against ‘identifying’ new so-called ‘ritual speech acts’ ad libitum because such a procedure shuts the door on studying speech acts through which ritual is realised in a replicable way. Instead, it is a more productive practice to identify and describe one’ subject of analysis with the aid of a finite typology of speech acts. The next task is to consider how this speech act is realised in a particular ritual frame. Chapter 9 provides a case study of the ritual phenomenon of ‘admonishing’ in a corpus of ancient Chinese texts. Admonishing represents a ritual realisation type of the Attitudinal speech act category Suggest (do-x)/(not-to-do-x).

Chapters 10 and 11 provide a solution for the study of interactionally complex ritual phenomena, by systematically breaking them down into replicable pragmatic units of analysis. The complexity of a ritual phenomenon can either mean that a phenomenon is too broad to be discussed as a single ritual, i.e., it represents a form of ritual behaviour which spans across many different ritual contexts, or it represents a particular context and related ritual frame which triggers ritual behaviour but cannot be subsumed under a single ritual heading from the pragmatician’s point of view. Chapter 11 focuses on the second type of difficulty: it proposes a discourse-analytic approach through which seemingly ad hoc and erratic interactional ritual behaviour in a single complex ritual frame can be studied in a replicable way. As a case study, the chapter will examine ritual bargaining in Chinese markets. While bargaining is a ritual in the popular sense of the word, it is problematic from the pragmatician’s point of view to refer to bargaining as a ritual, without considering whether and how it manifests itself in recurrent patterns of ritual language use.

Chapter 8 considers the relationship between expressions, the smallest unit of pragmatic analysis, and ritual. The chapter will provide a bottom–up, corpus-based and replicable approach through which expressions associated with structurally or functionally ritual speech acts are used to indicate awareness of the different ritual frame. Structurally ritual speech acts include speech acts like Greet and Leave-Take which occur in ritual parts of an interaction, while functionally ritual speech acts encompass speech acts like Request and Apologise which tend to be realised in a ritual way in many contexts. The chapter points out that the relationship between expressions and interaction ritual can be best captured through a contrastive pragmatic lens because the contrastive view allows the researcher to consider how strongly a pragmatically important expression tends to indicate a functionally or structurally ritual speech act when pitted against a comparable expression in another – preferably typologically distant – linguaculture. The chapter provides a case study of Chinese and English expressions associated with the ritually performed speech act Apologise as a case study.

Chapters 10 and 11 provide a solution for the study of interactionally complex ritual phenomena, by systematically breaking them down into replicable pragmatic units of analysis. The complexity of a ritual phenomenon can either mean that a phenomenon is too broad to be discussed as a single ritual, i.e., it represents a form of ritual behaviour which spans across many different ritual contexts, or it represents a particular context and related ritual frame which triggers ritual behaviour but cannot be subsumed under a single ritual heading from the pragmatician’s point of view. Chapter 10 focuses on the first of these cases: it explores the ritual phenomenon of self-denigration in Chinese. Self-denigration occurs in many different contexts of Chinese ritual practices and ceremonies, and if one attempts to describe its pragmatic features by relying on data drawn from a single context one unavoidably risks oversimplifying it. Rather, in the study of such a ritual phenomenon one should consider how it is used in different interpersonal scenarios with varying power and intimacy and in different phases of an interaction.

This chapter understands the Linguistic Landscape (LL) as a flow of discourse in time. LL units are structured as texts, materials, and discourse, but the LL only unfolds when these units engage the sign instigator and the sign viewer in discourse in the public eye. Using the foodscape as a focal point, the boundaries between the LL and other social practices are examined. A review of LL research methodology examines the role of photographs and the photographer’s point of view, fieldwork approaches that include interviews and reflexive ethnography, and the position of quantitative analysis. The chapter discusses relationships between the material LL and online linguistic landscapes (OLL), examining language displays in the OLL and ways in which users transcend the apparent boundaries between the two. Pointing out the long history of representing the LL in literature, the chapter discusses James Joyce’s Ulysses for its portrayal of the outer forms of the LL and its representation of the inner world of characters who move through the LL. Recommendations are made for further expansion of the field geographically, temporally, materially, and ethnographically.

The chapter ’Going on Pawtrol’ describes how to conduct linguistic research using the cat examples from the original research done for this book. It looks at methodological issues, like research design, research methods, sampling methods, data collection, wordlists, and surveys. The chapter also discusses ethics in relation to the protection of research participants and the research, touching on the laws in place to protect people’s privacy and data and the ethical guidelines established for researchers.

Chapter 1 examines the conceptual and methodological foundations that underlie this volume. Conceptually, it delineates transnational ‘law’ as consisting simply of that collection of transnational institutions and practices with which persons with legal training are increasingly engaged. The purpose of this volume, correspondingly, is to facilitate such engagement: to help the legal actor better understand what to look for and what the implications are of what she finds when she encounters such institutions and practices. Its methodology involves identifying the various ‘facets’ of transnational institutions and practices that are of most interest to persons working from the perspective of law (e.g., regulatory activities, governance structures); exploring how different regulatory regimes structure these facets in different ways so as to serve different regulatory purposes; and investigating how a regime’s structuring of that facet affects what the other facets of that regime can and cannot do effectively and, beyond that, the reach and shape of the regime’s overall legitimacy.

This chapter details how data are gathered, analyzed, and debated in a way which distinguishes citizen sociolinguistics from typical social science methodology, exemplifying and discussing several distinctions: The tools used to gather data are often misuses of other data tools like dialect surveys, language quizzes, or Google Translate; objective “accuracy” is less important than “likes” or popularity; sharing data is commonplace and necessary, given the importance of popularity for validity; transcripts are not kept in a locked drawer, but openly circulated; transcription of talk (often using phonetic spelling, emojis, or creative punctuation) is not “accurate” or “inaccurate” but is a form of interpretation in itself; making friends with research participants is not creepy overstepping but the essence of citizen sociolinguistic inquiry and a serendipitous way in which findings are disseminated. Validity, then, is built through participation in this community, rather than appeal to another knowledge base (such as published academic research). This chapter concludes with a short guide for fostering and exploring everyday conversations about language, whether fomented by curiosity and wonderment or critique and arrest.

In any given interaction, what counts as smart or insightful or correct, can be produced through feedback loops: Face-to-face, nods of agreement suggest we have the right answer. Online, the “best answer” moves to the top of Yahoo Answers, the “top definition” is the first seen in Urban Dictionary, and the most-viewed hits for “succinct pronunciation?” moves to the top of a google search. All the other answers drift further down your screen. This chapter illustrates both the positive and negative effects of feedback loops on how we talk about language and how we function as citizens. We’ll look at how feedback loops have the potential both to create a reality through the senses of shared identity and positive affiliation they can create and to put up barriers that keep people isolated from others’ ideas. Then, we’ll look closely at one case at Duke University in which citizen sociolinguists were able to disrupt entrenched social norms by breaking down those feedback loops and exposing different assumptions behind the ways we use language.

The introduction provides a guide for readers and sets out the research methodology of the book. Evident is the structural nature of the racism undergirding the predatory lending scams in the 2000s, along with the inertia over a decade later that precludes help for individuals that have been victimized. Institutional policies in private financial institutions and public bodies provide little redress for many individuals victimized by predatory lending, exacerbating the racial wealth gap. The chapter introduces the need for a normative shift in lending practices that embeds accountability. It introduces the plight of mortgagors in three of the cities hardest hit by the subprime crisis, and recounts stories of loss and of the frustration of their legal advocates. We introduce several critically important questions. What are the intergenerational harms caused by the continuing crisis and what mechanisms might be available to change that trajectory? What structurally can be accomplished in an era of deregulatory priority? What are the current implications for middle class and working class Americans of all races with respect to the most recent developments?