Sociophonetics is a sub-branch of phonetics that has attracted a great deal of attention recently. Advances in speech science and technological simulations allow increasingly sophisticated studies of language contact and change. Particularly at the level of pronunciation, these studies show that language variety is robust and socially embedded. Although the book assumes some knowledge of basic acoustics and variationist studies, the general introduction provides a review of practices in the field, including those of collection, analysis, and interpretation.