Methodology could be defined as the study of or the body of knowledge relating to method(s). Viewed in other terms, it can be considered as the hallmark or defining feature of a discipline or an approach within a discipline. In this respect any methodology is the site of constant contention, refinement and re-evaluation (Kuhn 1962). So strictly speaking, a discussion of methodology should also include the position(ing) (Marcus 1998: 98) of the scholar or school with regard to it, both inside any given approach and other approaches adjacent to it and within the discipline as a whole. This has been the case in Translation Studies, viz. the long-standing debate on the use and effectiveness of the Liberal Arts Paradigm and Empirical Science Paradigm (Gile 2005) in tackling and understanding translational and interpreting phenomena. The same holds for the various turns in Translation Studies, all of which are manifestations of its attempt to expand, define and establish itself as a specific academic discipline (Snell-Hornby 2006). Furthermore, an awareness of positioning and its ethical and political implications for researchers has given rise to studies in this area (see Committed approaches and activism; Gender and translation; Political translation; Post-colonial literatures and translation). All of these turns have brought changes in methodology with them or have rejected previous approaches and their respective methodologies. As Interpreting Studies has developed and outlined its own methodological concern, the discussion that follows will focus on translation.

References

Bourdieu, Pierre

2001 Science de la science et réflexivité. Cours du Collège de France, 2000–2001. Paris: Raisons d’agir.

Bourdieu, Pierre

1980 Le sens pratique. Paris: Les éditions de minuit.

Duranti, Alessandro

2001 Linguistic anthropology. Princeton: Princeton University Press.  BoP

Gile, Daniel

2005 Research issues in Translation Studies. Online reference materials. European Society for Translation Studies at http://​www​.est​-translationstudies​.org​/publications​/publications​.html [Accessed 3 February 2011]

Goodwin, Charles & Alessandro Duranti

(eds) 1992 Rethinking Context: Language as an Interactive Phenomenon. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoP

Katan, David

2004 2nd edition. Translating cultures: an introduction for translators, interpreters and mediators. Manchester: St Jerome.  BoP

Kuhn, Thomas S

1962 The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Latour, B

2005 Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Marcus, George E

1998 Ethnography through thick and thin. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Robinson, Douglas

(ed.) 1997 Western translation theory. From Herodotus to Nietzsche. Manchester: St. Jerome.  TSB

Toury, Gideon

1995 Descriptive Translation studies and Beyond. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins.  BoP

Wenger, Etienne

1998 Communities of practice. Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge U.K/ New York: Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

Brenda Nicodemus & Laurie Swabey

(eds) 2011 Advances in Interpreting Research. Inquiry in action. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins. .  TSB

Briggs, Charles L

2002 “Interviewing, Power/Knowledge, and Social Inequality.” In Handbook of Interview Research Context & Method, F. Jaber (eds), 911–922. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.

Gabriela Saldanha & Sharon O'Brien

2013 Research methodologies in TS. 280p. Manchester: St Jerome.

Holliday, Adrian

2007 Doing and Writing Qualitative Research. London: Sage Publications.

Jaber, F. Gubrium, J.F & Holstein, J.A

(eds) 2002 Handbook of Interview Research Context and Method. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.

Sandra Hale & Jemina Napier

2013: Research Methods in Interpreting. A practical Resource. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.  TSB

Singleton, Royce & Straits, Bruce C

2010 Approaches to Social Research. Oxford: Oxford University Press.