Sociolinguistic research methodology revolves around the Observer's Paradox: the goal is to observe the way people speak and understand language when they are not aware of being observed. Experimental methods may attempt to achieve highly accurate observations of less than natural speech or may attempt to achieve less accurate observations of very naturalistic language use. The inherent tradeoffs are discussed primarily as they relate to the areas of recording techniques, perception studies, and real vs. apparent time studies. Grammaticality judgment and survey technique are also briefly addressed.