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Advanced Research Methodologies in Translation Studies

Presentation · January 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1567.2402

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 Allameh Tabatab’i University
Department of English Translation Studies

Advanced Research Methodologies

in Translation Studies
Course Level: PhD

Bahareh Divandari
Dr. G. R. Tajvidi
1st Semister 2015-16

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 Introduction

Highlight issues the should be of concern to all

researcher
Place these issues in context of translation
studies research
Offering examples

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 brief

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1. Ontology and Epistemology

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Ontology (the study of being) Epistemology(the study of knowledge)
Objectivism: social phenomena have an existence of their own Positivism: social phenomena is objectively researched, data
apart form social actors (humans)=natural science perspective about the social world can be collected and measured. Linked with
quantitative approach & empiricism.

Constructivism: social phenomena are not inherent but are Interpretivism: explore the social world from the point of view
of the actors and subjective interpretations. Linked with qualitative
ascribed to it by social actors approaches.

Realism: Intermediate position between objectivism and Realism: agrees with positivism but also effects can provide
Constructivism= that can be known through the senses as well as evidence of the underlying structures and mechanisms. Linked with
effects of hidden structures and mechanisms both quantitative and qualitative approaches= obsrvable+hidden
structures and mechanism

Matthews and Ross (2010)

Positivism Ontology
Postpositivism: empiricism and objectivism are treated as Epistemology
distinct positions; just because research is ‘empirical’ in nature does not
mean that it is ‘objective’(Tymoczko2007:146).
Methodology
Critical theory Ethics
Constructivism Inquirer posture
Participatory/cooperative Quality criteria

Guba and Lincoln (2005): “there is no single ‘truth’ … all truths are but partial truths”
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 2.Research Terminology
Instrument of
understanding

Model: Framework Theory

Set of concepts to define and
Representation of ‘reality’ Set of ideas and approaches
explain some phenomenon

Typology Concept Method

Typical model of the items tend Specific research technique
Ideas driving from a model or
to be found in relation to each
framework
other

Methodology Tools
What is at hand: recording
A general approach to studying a devices, keystroke logging
phenomenon tools

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 •Apart from the philosophical terms:
Ontology and Epistemology,

•Researcher is to carefully consider:

1.Use of research terminology

2. Justify the definitions used for a

given purpose

3.Use terms consistently

4.Others might use the terms in

different ways

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Method vs. Methodology Theory and Method
• Chesterman(2007):
“methods are the ways in
which one actually uses,
develops, applies and tests
a theory in order to reach
the understanding it offers.”

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 3.Types of Research

Questions to be answered before conducting research:

• what is the research question, which method or methods are most appropriate,
• what kind of data will be collected, how will the data be analysed and so on.
• think about one’s epistemological framework

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It is important to consider what type of research we are engaging in:

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• Empirical research: seeks new data, new information derived from the observation
of data and from experimental work ,evidence which supports or disconfirms
hypotheses, or generates new ones.
– Basic or applied research: 1) Basic: fundamental research-primary aim is to acquire new
knowledge. 2) Applied: practical problems- has an application in life.
• Experimental: seeks to establish cause and effect relations
(if X happens, then what is the effect on Y?)
Controlled environment :not always possible in social sciences
Often comparative: ‘experimental group’ (also known as a ‘treatment group’) and a ‘control group’
• Explorative: e.g. phenomenology
(what is the effect on Y if X happens, or what X is)
lived experience or appearance of a r phenomenon is explored
interpretive, subjective approach, personal experiences

• Conceptual research :aims to define and clarify concepts, to interpret or

reinterpret new ideas, to relate concepts into larger systems, to introduce new
concepts or metaphor

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• Evaluative research:
– Summative evaluation:
• establish the value of a particular initiative once it has been
implemented
– Formative/process evaluation:
• 1) intended or unintended effects of the initiative 2)
evaluate the delivery of an initiative.
Empower
• Action research: lead to change stakeholders
• tackles “real-world problems in participatory and
collaborative ways in order to produce action and knowledge
• integrated fashion through a cyclical process

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• Ethnographic research: explores cultural groups
– understand, describe, and interpret a way of life
– from the point of view of its participants
• e.g. study of the Finnish translation unit at the
European Commission

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4.Research Questions and
Hypotheses

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 Research Questions
Before selecting methodology

Identify at least a tentative research question

Exploratory Descriptive
States the purpose of your research, guides what knowledge exists about describe a phenomenon in
a particular phenomenon detail
you through

Based on : 1) your interest

2) Interest of community at large

Research questions evolve over time:

reducing the scope and become more specific
Explanatory Evaluative
‘why’ question seeks to understand the value
No definite category/ hierarchy: primary question+ secondary of a phenomenon
questions/ sub-questions

Question form? 3 views are stated (pp.18)

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 Hypotheses
“[a] testable assertion about a relationship or
relationships between two or more concepts”
Relationships

=a statement about relationship not a question

Hypothesis is not just an expression of the Causal Associative

research question in the form of a statement
change in one
influence of one concept
concept (X)
on another
causes a change
+ intervening variable
in the other (Y)
Not all research questions can be expressed in
terms of a hypothesis

Ask: what we expect to find →support or

contradict our hypotheses

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Chesterman’s (2007) Types of Hypotheses:

Generalize,
Universals
Descriptive Predictive '
‘All Xs have features F, ‘In conditions ABC, X
or belong to class Y’ will (tend to) occur’

Conceptual Empirical
Hypotheses tests Hypotheses

INTERPRETIVE Explanatory
something (X) can be
usefully interpreted as ‘X is caused or
Y influenced by ABC’

hermeneutics
Suggest
reasons

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 5.The Literature Review

Literature
review

Researchers can:
1. Identify and describe theoretical framework
2. Identify interesting research questions
3. Explain their motivation and potential contribution

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Arlene Fink: “a systematic, explicit, and reproducible method for
identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing the existing body of
completed and recorded work produced by researchers, scholars, and
practitioners”

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 • Identify, read and evaluate the key sources
Systematic = not random

• Inclusion: clearly stating work, authors, time period, domain,

Explicit languages, region, etc
• Exclusion: what is excluded and why

• Documented clearly
Reproducible • Appropriate referencing: could be tracked down and confirmed

•Synthesize: core concepts and findings

•Identify: Relevant work

Synthesize
•Not repeating verbatim (word-for-word)
•Summarizing : main themes, ideas, questions/hypotheses and conclusion
•Challenges when synthesizing: 1) avoid plagiarism 2)structure of the work
• Structure: author by author? Era by era? Language by language? Mix into
themes and topics?

•Novice researcher assume:1) evaluating is challenging 2)not in a position to

criticize

Evaluate= evaluate critically

• Critically explore: find strength and weakness
•Comparative aspect: aim to highlight 1) contradictory findings 2) findings
which support previous research 3) differences in assumptions, theories etc.

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 6.Data

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We collect data to find answers to research questions

• Primary
– collected by the researcher
• interview
Spoken transcriptions,
questionnaire
responses, translations
Data Written etc.

Non-verbal • Secondary
– collected by other
researchers
• Corpora
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Types of Data Levels of measurement
• Structured • Categorical scale/nominal
– Quantitative approach data
• represented numerically and – Fall into only one category,
analyzed statistically e.g. ‘pregnant’/’not pregnant’
• questionnaire surveys • Ordinal scale data
• Semi or unstructured data – Concept can be ranked, e.g.
dullness scale
– Qualitative approach
• interviews
• Ratio scale data
– Interval data, fixed value
between points
• Interval scale data
– Grading system used to
evaluate student work
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 When’s data sufficient?
• Data collection depends on many variables:
– Methodology/research question/ hypothesis/
time allocation
– Data analysis: Individual / team/ automatic
– Validity/credibility
• Pilot study: helpful to carry out a small-scale
beforehand
• Add layers of data overtime until stabilization in the
variability of results

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7. Qualitative, Quantitative and
Mixed-method Approaches

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 Research approach should be determined by the research
question(s) and how best it/they might be addressed:

Translation research:
Translation research: 1)critical discourse analysis,
1) corpus analysis, 2) interviews,
2)eye tracking, 3)focus groups,
3) keystroke logging, etc 4)questionnaires, etc:
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Mixed-methods: both qualitative and quantitative
•qualitative phase →quantitative phase:
explore data qualitatively and to follow this exploration up with
a more focused quantitative analysis of the topic or sub-topic.
•quantitative phase → qualitative phase:
commencing with a quantitative phase has the potential
advantage of exposing some trends that can then be further
probed via qualitative data

Triangulation : collection of a variety of data on the same

phenomena, or the collection of data by different investigators
or by different methods to ensure that the method of
collecting data is valid.

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8.Research Operationalization

Unit of
data

Unit of
analysis

Operational
definition

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 Unit of
data

• macro-level data:
– Organizations (TS: Professional translator associations),
– Countries (TS: country-specific laws regarding translation),
– Systems (TS: literary polysystem),
– Social entities (TS: translation practice within organizations)
• micro-level data:
– Individual (TS: translation strategies)
– Word (TS: specific strategies in a translated text)
– Text (TS: time taken to translate a text)
• Tymoczko:
– Macro-level research: cultural approach
– Micro-level research : linguistic approach
– Encourages convergence
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• Not the same as unit of data
• Does not depend on the unit of data:
– General analysis
– Specific analysis
– e.g. ‘text’ analysis: lexical Unit of
analysis
Sentence, clause, phrase..

micro-level data specific analysis

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• Operational definition:
• Approach for Gathering data+ Analyzing data
• Operationalization refers to the operations
involved in measuring the dependent variable.
• ‘how can I turn this somewhat abstract theory
into a measurable entity?’ Operational
definition
• Two crucial questions:
– 1.what influence does the researcher’s
beliefs and ideology have on the proposed
operationalization of the concept?
– 2.whether or not the tools selected can
actually measure the concept the researcher
wishes to measure?

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 Measurable
variables

• “something that varies … in some way that we seek to measure”

• quantitative approaches
– dependent variables: core concept we are trying to assess
– independent variables: things that we manipulate in order to see
what the effect is on dependent variable
• confounding variables: variables that influence dependent and independent
variables
• qualitative approach
– Research constructs (= variables)
• Unobservable variables, and therefore variables that have to be measured
indirectly
• Chesterman’s distinction:
– profile variables: form of a transla on→ stylis cs, syntac c
– context variables: transla on context and its consequences → Skopos

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Thank You

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 Appendix

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 ‫ﺳﻮال ﻫﺎي ﭘﮋوﻫﺶ‬
‫ﭼﻪ ﺷﻮاﻫﺪي وﺟﻮد دارد ﮐﻪ ﻧﺸﺎن ﻣﯽ دﻫﺪ ﻣﺘﺮﺟﻤﯿﻦ از‬ ‫•‬
‫اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﮋي ‪ MinMax‬اﺳﺘﻔﺎده ﮐﺮده اﺳﺖ؟‬
‫ﺑﺎ ﺗﻮﺟﻪ ﺑﻪ اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﮋي ‪ MinMax‬ﻣﺘﺮﺟﻤﯿﻦ ﭼﻪ اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﮋي ﻫﺎي ﻓﺮﻋﯽ‬ ‫•‬
‫اﺳﺘﻔﺎده ﮐﺮده اﺳﺖ؟‬
‫ﭼﺮا ﻣﺘﺮﺟﻢ ﻫﺎ از اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﮋي ‪ MinMax‬اﺳﺘﻔﺎده ﻣﯽ ﮐﻨﻨﺪ ؟‬ ‫•‬
‫اﺳﺘﺮاﺗﮋي ‪ MinMax‬ﭼﻪ ﺗﺎﺛﯿﺮي ﺑﺮ ﮐﯿﻔﯿﺖ ﺗﺮﺟﻤﻪ دارد؟‬ ‫•‬
‫)اﮐﺘﺸﺎﻓﯽ( )ﺗﻮﺻﯿﻔﯽ( )ﺗﻮﺿﯿﺤﯽ( )ارزﯾﺎﺑﯽ(‬
‫ﻣﯽ ﺗﻮاﻧﺪ ﺗﺮﮐﯿﺒﯽ ﺑﺎﺷﺪ‬
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 Hypotheses and variables
Research Question: What is the effect on translation
quality when time pressure is increased?

Null Hypothesis: There is no change in translation quality when time pressure is increased

dependent variable (quality)

and the independent variable (time pressure).

Other independent variable (confounding): text complexity, experience of the translator,

degree of specialization

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 Pym’s clips on hypotheses and model
• http://www.youtube.co • http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=NR6z0sO6f m/watch?v=tuWYiPoYe
ug bs

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Tymokzco, Postpositivist approach:
interrelationship between data and
theory? In analysis of data, researchers
1. Explore the interrelationship
2. Make explicit links to
theoretical framework

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Action Research

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Triangulation

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