Wright had hundreds of informants ("correspondents") and borrowed from thousands of written sources, mainly glossaries published by the English Dialect Society in the later 19th century, but also many literary texts written in dialect. In contrast to most of his sources, Wright pursued a scholarly linguistic method, providing full evidence of his sources and antedating modes of grammatical analysis of the 20th century.
Wright had numerous informants ("intermediaries") and drew from a vast array of written sources, primarily glossaries published by the English Dialect Society in the late 19th century, as well as many literary texts written in dialect. In contrast to most of his sources, Wright employed a rigorous scholarly approach, providing comprehensive documentation of his sources and pioneering methods of grammatical analysis that predated those of the 20th century.