Chapter 1 provides introductory information on empiricism, the stages and elements of the research process; quality criteria; basic types of research questions and methodological approaches, data collection, documentation and analysis, interpretation, reflection and presentation of the findings; and research ethics. Chapter 1 also contains detailed instructions for keeping research diaries and making poster presentations as forms of documentation and presentation which we recommend for student projects, as well as short exercises and recommendations for further reading.

Chapter 8 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of neurolinguistics. It is a highly interdisciplinary linguistic subfield focusing on the relationship between brain and language behaviour. Concentrating on experimental research, methodological issues include considerations on research participants, data types, and techniques of data acquisition and analysis. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.

Chapter 5 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of corpus linguistics. Basically, it is an empirical approach investigating language use in its natural context with different types of corpora as its data base. Methodological issues include considerations on corpus linguistic approaches, types and criteria of corpora, steps of corpus analysis, such as tokenisation and tagging, and finally types of analysis. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.

Chapter 2 presents the three main research methods – observation, survey (interviews and questionnaires), and experiment. For each method, we outline a range of subtypes, including the consequences of various methodological decisions when methods have to be chosen in accordance with a specific research context. The chapter ends with short exercises which serve to gain experience with the different methods and recommendations for further reading.

Chapter 7 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of cognitive linguistics & psycholinguistics. This interdisciplinary linguistic subfield comprises a broad range of approaches and theories focusing on the study of language and cognition. For analysing mental representations and processes underlying language production, language comprehension, language acquisition, and non-linguistic thought, key issues of empirical research include considerations on research participants, types of data, and components of experimental research. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.

Chapter 4 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of language typology, a linguistic subdiscipline studying language from a cross-linguistic perspective. For analysing the languages of the world comparatively in search for structural commonalities (universals) and differences (scope of variation), methodological issues include considerations on the basis of comparison, sampling, and data sources. Typological findings are finally interpreted in terms of their motivations. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.

Chapter 3 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of language documentation and descriptive linguistics. These are two closely interrelated linguistic subfields concentrating on the collection and/or analysis of primary data for the purposes of documenting and describing languages (corpora and grammars). Methodological issues include considerations on research objects, fieldwork, as well as techniques and procedures of data collection, editing, and analysis such as transcription, annotation, and elicitation. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.

Chapter 9 provides an overview contrasting the distinct empirical approaches, including their characteristics as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Based on this summary, we discuss how the subdisciplines are empirically intertwined and how the findings of each subdiscipline contribute to the overall understanding of the complexity of human language. Finally, the chapter outlines some trends in linguistics and provides exercises to reflect on interfaces across the discipline and interdisciplinarity.

Chapter 6 describes the fundamental research questions, empirical approaches and findings of sociolinguistics & anthropological linguistics. These are two interdisciplinary linguistic subfields investigating language (with a focus on variation) in its socio-cultural context. Key issues of empirical research include aspects of data collection, such as fieldwork and participant observation, considerations on linguistic and non-linguistic data types (emic vs. etic parameters), and research participants, as well as methods of analysis. The chapter ends with recommendations for further reading and a list of short exercises and ideas for small research projects.