For this research project, we mainly collected first-hand data, particularly from face-to-face interviews. These data are significant as Shanghainese are one of the minority groups in Hong Kong, whose views and voices need to be projected to the public. The micro-sociolinguistic data were collected in mid-March, 2016, from six interviewees of Shanghainese members, who are our group members' classmates, friends, family members or relatives, and people of the Shanghainese community. They are later divided into three groups for three different analysis. The interviewees are of different generations, including grandparents, parents and children of Shanghainese families. Interviews were conducted either at homes, a university or a restaurant. Except for one interviewee who wishes not to be identified, all interviews were audio-recorded by mobile phones with permissions. We also ensure absolute strict confidentiality during this research project by using pseudonyms, according to the interviewees' preferences as indicated in their consent forms. Interview schedule is attached at the bottom of this page. In our project, we also used secondary resources. By reading books and academic journal articles, along with searching census data, these resources serve as our research foundation and framework to approach the issue of language shift.

We analyzed the data, compared all the interviews, and figured out three different degrees of shift from Shanghainese in favor of the more dominant language, Cantonese, from the three groups of participants. We also explain the phenomenon of and factors behind such shift, as well as present interviewees' views over the issue and the preservation of this language.