Linguistics

How language is structured, used, and how it changes.

What counts as evidence: Language data — recordings, corpora, or elicited examples — analyzed against a specific claim about structure or use.

Open corpora (COCA, and others) let you test claims about real usage patterns for free.
Be precise about which level you're studying: sound, structure, meaning, or use.
If recording speakers, get consent and anonymize identifying details.
A small, well-transcribed dataset beats a large, sloppy one.