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Article published In:
Corpus-Based Research in Legal and Institutional Translation
Edited by Fernando Prieto Ramos
[Translation Spaces 8:1] 2019
► pp. 93–116

Building representative multi-genre corpora for legal and institutional translation research

The LETRINT approach to text categorization and stratified sampling

ORCID logo | University of Geneva
ORCID logo | University of Geneva
ORCID logo | University of Geneva

Exploring questions of representativeness, balance and comparability is essential to tailoring corpus design and compilation to research goals, and to ensuring the validity of research results. This is especially true when the target population of texts under examination is very large and transcends a restricted area of specialization and/or covers multiple genres, as in the case of texts translated in institutional settings. This paper describes the multilayered sequential approach to corpus building applied in a comparative study on legal translation in three of these settings. The approach is based on a full mapping and categorization of institutional texts from a legal perspective; it applies an innovative combination of stratified sampling techniques integrating quantitative and qualitative criteria adapted to the research aims. The resulting corpora, categorization matrix and selection records, together with the methodological detail provided, can be useful for building other multi-genre corpora in translation studies and further afield.

Keywords: corpus, representativeness, text categorization, stratified sampling, genre, balance, legal translation, institutional translation
Article outline
  • 1.Representativeness and research needs: LETRINT’s corpus-building sequence
  • 2.Mapping institutional text production: The LINST corpora set
  • 3.Categorization of institutional texts: From LINST to LETRINT 0
  • 4.Stratified systematic sampling: From LETRINT 0 to LETRINT 1
    • 4.1Selection of genres
    • 4.2Tailored selection of textual units by stratum
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at [email protected].

Published online: 26 June 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ts.00014.pri
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