Post on 16-Dec-2015
D.Gile TipsPhD 1
TIPS FOR PhD RESEARCH IN TRANSLATION AND INTERPRETING
Daniel Giledaniel.gile@yahoo.com www.cirinandgile.com
D.Gile TipsPhD 2
APPROACHES IN THESES AND DISSERTATIONS – A REMINDER
1. CSA (The traditional “scientific method”)
2. HSA Other approaches, essentially non-empirical, mostly in the
Human Sciences
3. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE, REFLECTION, GENERALIZATION (PRG)
Not really academic, but share the same publication media as academic approaches
Will not be addressed here
4. TECHNOLOGICAL PROJECTS Developing Software, Machines, etc. Will not be addressed here
D.Gile TipsPhD 3
CSA – ESSENTIALLY EMPIRICAL
Strongly data-oriented – but not necessarily quantitative The data are used to develop/test theories
Theories are conceptual constructs used as tools to represent reality until further evidence leads to better tools
(which have better explanatory/predictive power)
Started in the natural sciences Was adopted later in other disciplines
In TS, found in research on: - translation processes - Translation quality - Linguistic aspects of translation - Translation universals
D.Gile TipsPhD 4
HSA (1)
Mostly conceptual analysis
Often based on evidence… (but not locked-in to observable, explicitly reported
evidence)
Often with personal, subjective interpretation of statements and phenomena without systematic attempts to test them empirically
Most of the progress is achieved through the analysis of ideas and through debates in which existing theories are discussed
D.Gile TipsPhD 5
HSA (2)
Found in many - Philosophical - Literary - Sociological, political, ideological studies of translation
Often incompatible with CSA because of:
No attempt to be objective, sometimes deliberately subjective
Links to factual evidence flimsy
Can be evaluative without evidence as a backing for judgment, prescriptive
D.Gile TipsPhD 6
REQUIREMENTS FROM PhD
1. COMPLY WITH ACADEMIC NORMSWith respect to fundamental intellectual rules and with
respect to writing and social norms
2. INNOVATEWith new facts, ideas and/or research methods
In most academic settings, you will have to choose between CSA and HSA
In most cases, it is easier to innovate in CSA than in HSA
Because it is easier to find an under-explored part of reality than an under-analyzed conceptual system where
you can really innovate
D.Gile TipsPhD 7
TOPIC SELECTION: THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT?
- Long hesitations before deciding- Stuck in the middle because of unforeseen problems- Deadline problems
TWO MAJORS REASONS FOR DIFFICULTIES- Poor topic selection/definition (Too ambitious, not feasible, not defined clearly enough)- Poor planning
PREVENTION IS POSSIBLE
D.Gile TipsPhD 8
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
Each project needs specific objectives, such as finding an answer/beginning of an answer to questions
- What can I find out about X?- Can I detect regularities in Y?
- What happens if..?- Is Z true? (testing a theory/hypothesis)
- What can I add to theory T?
In all these cases, some innovation is expected from the study
But not major innovation! Check published work and see for yourself
D.Gile TipsPhD 9
HOW TO START?
Ask yourself:- What areas of translation/interpreting am I interested in?
- What issues in these areas am I interested in?
- What unresolved issues have I identified in them?
Read the literature systematically and ask yourself:
- Where could I contribute something new? (new facts, new ideas, new methods)?- How could I do that? (a general idea of what you would do concretely)- Can I really? (knowledge, knowhow, materials, subjects, time)
D.Gile TipsPhD 10
Doctoral projects…dreams and reality (1)
Doctoral work requires sustained effort
Part of it is pleasure, but much effort is tedious
Expect:
- Doubts- Difficulties
- Much repetititve data collection, uninteresting computations, rewriting, proof-reading…
- Crises- Interference from/with other activities
but Also pleasure as you work and progress
D.Gile TipsPhD 11
Doctoral projects…dreams and reality (2)
Don’t expect to make major discoveries
You may, if you are very lucky
But most of the time, you will not(because of variability, of limited resources, of complexities
you discover as you go along…)
Expect your innovative contribution to be modest
To avoid overly excessive objectives which might results in failure
To avoid being disappointed by your own findingsAnd by other people’s reactions to your work
D.Gile TipsPhD 12
THREE (LEGITIMATE) CASES
Project for pleasureNo restrictions… but remember to plan stng feasible
Project to meet academic requirements(Tenure, promotion…)
Select topic for minimum effort to meet requirements(you may well find the work pleasurable and want to do
more)
Project with a specific outcome in your mindSeek maximum efficiency
But be reasonable in your ambitionsRemember that high variability is a big problem
And so is access to a large enough representative sample
D.Gile TipsPhD 13
PRACTICAL STRATEGIES
Practical planning - is important
- is part of the topic selection process
Remember thatyour initial topic / objectives / research question
may not be the final ones
Keep your mind open to:
A narrower topic than initially plannedAlternative routes
Changes in the direction in which you will progress
D.Gile TipsPhD 14
PLANNING AND FEASIBILITY (1)
Check feasibility when planning
Small scale study OK, often advisable
If empirical, simple methodology often advisable(Unless the research questions warrant advanced methods
and you have the necessary skills and/or help)
Choose a specific topic within a subject area and start planning, but
Don’t fall in love with this topicYou may find it wiser to change course if feasibility is
uncertain or if problems crops up
D.Gile TipsPhD 15
PLANNING AND FEASIBILITY (2)
Be realistic
Do not try to solve a fundamental problem:
Try to contribute something towards a solution
Do not be disappointed
if you do not find clear-cut results
The absence of clear-cut results may be just as useful(examples: directionality issue, training in simultaneous
with or w/o previous training in consecutive,Requirement for long stay in country of B language prior to
enrollment…)
D.Gile TipsPhD 16
PLANNING CHECKLIST
TIMETOTAL TIME TO COMPLETION
REGULAR TIME TO WORK
METHOD AND RESOURCESCHOOSE METHOD CONSIDERING AVAILABILITY OF
RESOURCES
BASELINE EXPERTISEDO YOU HAVE IT ?
DO YOU HAVE TIME TO ACQUIRE IT?CAN YOU GET OUTSIDE HELP?
AVAILABLE SAMPLE(SUBJECTS, MATERIALS, EQUIPMENT, TEXTS…)
- SIZE?- REPRESENTATIVE OF WHAT?
D.Gile TipsPhD 17
PROTOTYPICAL HSA & CSA – CSA (1)
CSA: Around dataStart with question or hypothesis
For which you wish to find an answer with data
When checking feasibility, think of data- Access to what data?
- How will you process it?
The whole research process will be directed towards finding an answer to your question
Every step will be based on the data and on logic
D.Gile TipsPhD 18
PROTOTYPICAL CSA & HSA – CSA (2)
Objective of project:- Explore an unknown part or reality
(Court interpreting in Malaysia, Specific problems in Signed Language Interpreting in educational
settings)- Test a hypothesis
(Do interpreters work close to saturation? Do translators work better from A language? Into A
language?)- Develop a research method
(For instance, for measuring translation quality)
D.Gile TipsPhD 19
PROTOTYPICAL CSA & HSA - HSA
Starts with general ideas and/or questions about the nature of something
Reading and reflection, analysis of other authors’ ideas(in CSA, much analysis of other authors’ findings and
methods)
Access to data for observation/measurement is irrelevant
The whole research process will be directed towards finding arguments in favor of or against certain ideas or theories
Progression based on ideas, not on dataData are not brought in to justify every statement.
but may be brought in by your contradictors, so be aware of them nevertheless.
D.Gile TipsPhD 20
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (1)
Am interested in the issue of directionalityHave read the relevant literature, which is mostly
prescriptiveAm aware in particular of of Nike Pokorn’s doctoral
dissertation, which tackles directionality through identification of the translator’s A language.
Think this is not sufficient, and think I may be able to contribute by doing a direct comparison of work into A
and into B
How to go about it?
D.Gile TipsPhD 21
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (2)
First question: naturalistic or experimental?
If naturalistic, how to go about it?Access to translations into A and into B?
If only literary OK?If not, how access?
Through translation company?Check the possibilities
Through translation department in organization?Check the possibilities
Access to how many people into A?Access to how many people into B?
What will I check?Language quality? Fidelity?
D.Gile TipsPhD 22
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (3)
How will I check language/fidelity?
If linguistic quality, raters?Variability? Comparability?
How many texts?How will I process the data?
If fidelity, how?Propositional? Word for word?
Selected words?
How much time do I need for the work?
D.Gile TipsPhD 23
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (4)
If experimental:Is one experiment enough for a PhD?
If not, how much? What design?
How many people, how many texts, what order?(Same texts need to be translated into A and into B by
sufficient translators to provide data with a chance to overcome variability barriers)
What texts?How do I get participants to translate them?
How do I ensure the ecological validity of the design while controlling relevant parameters?
D.Gile TipsPhD 24
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (5)
How much time do I need:
For the selection of texts, for the selection of participants,for piloting, for data analysis?
(Count several months for writing after analysis of data completed)
Do I have the required knowledge in statistics to do the hypothesis-testing if I choose to do so? Or access to a
statistician?Or do I choose another type of approach, more qualitative?
If so, what can I expect from such a qualitative investigation?
If so, how?Selection of participants, time….?
D.Gile TipsPhD 25
EXAMPLE – DIRECTIONALITY (6)
Or do I choose a technological approach, based on indicators such as gaze analysis, translog, a combination
of both?
If so, what would I gain?
Is the equipment available?
Do I know how to use it?
I will have to read reports of studies conducted with Translog and gaze analyzers and talk to researchers who
did such work
D.Gile TipsPhD 26
INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK ISSUES
Insufficient baseline knowledge and knowhow on both sides can be problematic
Lack of understanding of TS from non-TS
Cannot necessarily import methods without adapting them
Possible differences in the interpretation of data
Non-TS colleagues/supervisors will not necessarily check your work reliably –
And may ask you to comply with requirements which you consider irrelevant or damaging to the potential added
value of your work(such as control of variables which challenges ecological
validity and reduces potential sample size)
D.Gile TipsPhD 27
SUPERVISOR (1)
IMPORTANT “RESOURCE”Because
(Potential)- Knowledge- Experience
- Support
- AVAILABLE LOCALLY ?(Sometimes institutional requirement)
- KNOWS YOUR FIELD AND SUB-FIELD?
- HAS THE RELEVANT KNOWHOW?
D.Gile TipsPhD 28
SUPERVISOR (2)
- AVAILABLE?(Not too many other students/activities?)
DO YOUR PERSONALITIES “FIT”?
FORMAL CO-SUPERVISOR
INFORMAL CO-SUPERVISOR(S)/ADVISORS
D.Gile TipsPhD 29
WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR (1)
DOES SUPERVISOR SUGGEST A TOPIC?(IF SO, MOTIVATION AND COMPETENCE)
IF NOT, TAKE THE INITIATIVE
THE WORK IS YOURSSUPERVISORS WILL NOT DO IT FOR YOU
SUGGEST TOPIC TO SUPERVISORASK FOR REACTIONS AND ADVICE
PREPARE WRITTEN DESCRIPTION OF METHOD(CLEAR AND CONCISE)ASK FOR REACTION
D.Gile TipsPhD 30
WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR (2)
Report to your supervisor regularly(Unless s/he tells you not to)
Make sure to report and consult if stuck!
When you do, don’t ask cosmological questionsPrepare specific questions
Make sure to have readily availableany explanation which might be required to help the
supervisor understand your problem
D.Gile TipsPhD 31
WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR (3)
Remember that while you are immersed in your research,your supervisor has other students and other activities
Your work is not as important for him/her as for you
S/he may well have forgotten what you have done last time your reported on your work
Don’t embarrass him/her, help him/her help youBy reminding him/her briefly of your specific topic,
research questions, present status… before putting a question that requires this background information
D.Gile TipsPhD 32
WORKING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR (4)
Some supervisors like face-to-face meetings
Some prefer email exchangesYou may miss less when it is written than when it is spoken,
You will have more time to think about it… and can present it as evidence if required
Don’t expect your supervisor to print out 10 pages or more of text you will send him/her
If you have a long text to send, send a hard copy(unless the supervisor asks you for an electronic one)
D.Gile TipsPhD 33
SCIENTIFIC NORMS AND PARADIGMS
There are many paradigms in the field
Theoretical work OK, empirical work OK
Samples OK, case study can be OK
Inferential statistics are not an necessarily an essential part of empirical research
Experimental OK, naturalistic OK
Don’t let yourself be trapped by evaluative claims on paradigms
Look at precedents both in TS and in established disciplines
Accept local norms and constraints, but feel free within their boundaries