Research Methodologies, Translation

Methodology refers to the rationale for the application of research methods, the body of methods applied in a discipline and the study of such methods. Methodologies in translation studies are shaped by ontological and epistemological assumptions about research and translation, which means that they reflect the development of the discipline. Conceptual research involves discussing concepts, contextualizing them within a broad theoretical framework, and defining and comparing them as a way of defending a hypothesis or argument. Case studies are among the most widely used methodologies, particularly in historical studies, and involve a wide variety of methods such as textual analysis, archival research, surveys, interviews, corpus-based methods and participant observation. Questionnaires are a quantitative method for data collection used to gather information about a target population through a set of questions addressed to a sample of respondents. A focus group is an interview with several people, usually at least four, about a specific topic.