In this article, the author sets out to redefine the concept of interpreting quality, relating it closely to that of quality assurance and management, and suggests a research framework that can be applied to different types of interpreting. After an overview of approaches and a description of how they have developed to include not only interpreting output but also context, situation and working conditions as well as the user perspective, the author proposes a broader research concept which aims at measuring factors such as time spent on preparation, interpreter workload and language distribution and other relevant variables. Once it has become clear that as much data as possible is needed from authentic case studies, the author turns to the question of target text quality, which is to be addressed from the perspective of the entire service, that interpreters render.