Although it’s been hard to hold regular events since the COVID-19 pandemic, our own Laura Wagner has found a way to bring volunteer citizen scientists into a real language research project over the internet, via her BLNDIY and CogSciDIY (Do It Yourself) projects!
The goal of DIY Language Science is to show people how language is studied scientifically by having them do it themselves! Participants tell us what questions they have about language and then our team designs (with their help!) a study to answer their question. And then we run it! Over the course of a few weeks, participants get to see all the stages of a real research project, from initial ideas to final interpretations. Along the way, they get to have some fun with language games and learn more about the scientific process. This research is funded by a BETHA grant.
As shown in an image from OSU alum Nick Bednar’s thesis, BLNDIY reaches a global audience, with thousands of page views.
DIY science continues this winter, this time targeting high schoolers; contact Laura if you want to get involved.