To ensure reliable language data for research there is a need for experiments eliciting acceptability judgments. Experimental data are discussed to show that evaluation of a sentence may be affected by the sentence with which it is paired. Sentences with similar deviances should be presented as a set for evaluation. (CHK)

This article compares English and Russian studies of the use of psychometric methods in linguistic research, and presents the results of recent research. (CLK)

The shift from regional to social variation in linguistic behavior has necessitated inclusion of larger numbers of informants in studies. This paper examines some sampling techniques and discusses the structuring of a community profile representative of a target population and exhibiting necessary social variation for accurate dialect study. (CHK)