The Beginnings of Panel Research

Abstract

This chapter reports on the first large-scale panel study in the field of linguistics, which was started in 1967 in Eskilstuna, Sweden. The unique design of this project relied on a real-time trend study in conjunction with a smaller panel component, tracing both individual and generational change over a period of almost 30 years. Labov (2001 : 447) referred to results of the Eskilstuna study (published in Nordberg and Sundgren 1998 ) as: “The lability of speakers 30–50 may be characteristic of changes from above as opposed to changes from below, or of morphology as opposed to phonology, but it underlines the fact that the assumption of stability for young adults, built into the models that follow, may have to be revised”. This chapter discusses the relationship between ongoing community-wide changes and the behavior of individual speakers of various ages in this Swedish community. We reflect on the lessons learned from this early exploratory research on language change and stability across the lifespan, focusing on the question of what these inaugural findings can contribute to the burgeoning field of panel research.

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