Quantitative sociolinguistics Methodology: A Descriptive and Analytical Study

Document Type : Original Article

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Institute of Arabic Teaching to Non-Arabic Speakers, Islamic University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This research aims to present and review the quantitative sociolinguistic framework (Labovian Method) adopted in many sociolinguistic studies (including Arabic Language studies). In addition, it describes, in detail, the methods and means that commonly used to collect, organise and analyse sociolinguistic data. The research also emphasises the fact that sociolinguistic data mainly elicited by using a common method in sociolinguistics, i.e. tape recording. Two common settings related to tape recording method were chosen to be reviewed: personal interviews and group discussions. Moreover, for sampling sociolinguistic research participants, two methods of sampling were reviewed and discussed, i.e. random sampling and judgment sampling. This study argues that the latter method, seems to be the only appropriate sampling method to use in the Arab world, due to the difficulty to approach Arab speakers without pre-arrangement. More importantly, the study reviewed two fundamental components of the quantitative sociolinguistic studies, which have to be correlated to each other, i.e. sociological and linguistic variables.

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