Citizen sociolinguistics: A new method to understand fat talk.

Gina Agostini,Alexandra Brewis,Amber Wutich,Deborah Williams,Cindi Sturtzsreetharan

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0217618

Abstract

Fat talk and citizen scienceFat talk is a spontaneous verbal interaction in which interlocutors make self-disparaging comments about the body, usually as a request for assessment. Fat talk often reflects concerns about the self that stem from broader sociocultural factors. It is therefore an important target for sociocultural linguistics. However, real-time studies of fat talk are uncommon due to the resource and time burdens required to capture these fleeting utterances. This limits the scope of data produced using standard sociolinguistic methods. Citizen science may alleviate these burdens by producing a scale of social observation not afforded via traditional methods. Here we present a proof-of-concept for a novel methodology, citizen sociolinguistics. This research approach involves collaborations with citizen researchers to capture forms of conversational data that are typically inaccessible, including fat talk.Aims and outcomesThis study had two primary aims. Aim 1 focused on scientific output, testing a novel research strategy wherein citizen sociolinguists captured fat talk data in a diverse metropolitan region (Southwestern United States). Results confirm that citizen sociolinguistic research teams captured forms of fat talk that mirrored the scripted responses previously reported. However, they also capture unique forms of fat talk, likely due to greater diversity in sample and sampling environments. Aim 2 focused on the method itself via reflective exercises shared by the citizen sociolinguists throughout the project. In addition to confirming that the citizen sociolinguistic method produces reliable, scientifically valid data, we contend that citizen sociolinguist inclusion has broader scientific benefits which include applied scientific training, fostering sustained relationships between professional researchers and the public, and producing novel, meaningful scientific output that advances professional discourse.

Highlights

Research projects that entail collaborations with lay people are common in the natural and biological sciences where citizen science has made an enormous and positive contribution to the scaling of data collection efforts [1]
Results confirm that citizen sociolinguistic research teams captured forms of fat talk that mirrored the scripted responses previously reported
Fat talk was an ideal candidate for this nascent study in citizen sociolinguistics for multiple reasons, both in terms of advancing sociolinguistic understanding on this understudied topic and in terms of citizen sociolinguist engagement

Summary

Aims and outcomes

Aim 1 focused on scientific output, testing a novel research strategy wherein citizen sociolinguists captured fat talk data in a diverse metropolitan region (Southwestern United States). Results confirm that citizen sociolinguistic research teams captured forms of fat talk that mirrored the scripted responses previously reported. They capture unique forms of fat talk, likely due to greater diversity in sample and sampling environments. Aim 2 focused on the method itself via reflective exercises shared by the citizen sociolinguists throughout the project. Citizen sociolinguistics and fat talk researchers and the public, and producing novel, meaningful scientific output that advances professional discourse

Introduction

Materials and methods

Results and discussion