Research Methods in Translation and Interpreting Studies

Abstract Translation and interpreting studies is an interdisciplinary area of scholarly inquiry that has relied on a wide range of methodological approaches over the course of its development and evolution into an independent discipline. Early methods focused on linguistic and textual comparisons of the translated product or the interpreted rendition. Corpus-based methods grew in popularity along with greater interest in research on the cognitive processes involved in translation and interpreting and a recognition of the situated, embodied nature of this cognition. This turn necessitated the embracing of methods typically used in cognitive research, such as eye tracking, screen recording, and keyboard logging. Methods typical of inquiry in the social sciences, such as surveys, interviews, and focus groups, are still used in parallel. As new questions emerge about the boundaries of the discipline, so too do new challenges in the approach to research, including but not limited to questions about how to conduct research that is socially engaged and open.