Research questionsClaims

Hypothesis

Williams and Chesterman (2002) provide us with a framework, including the stages of research:

1. Choosing an area WE ARE HERE!!!2. Making a preliminary plan WE’LL TALK ABOUT IT3. Searching through the literature4. Reading and thinking5. Defining the research question WE’LL BE HERE NEXT WEEK!!6. Revising the plan7. Collecting data AND TALK ABOUT STAGES 7&88. Analyzing the data9. Processing the results10.Writing a draft11.Evaluating, eliciting feedback12.Thinking of implications13.Finalizing the text14.Presenting your research report

You have already formulated a research topic.

You found your research questions (We will discuss your questions)

You built a bibliography on your research topic. You applied the principles laid out by MLA.

We will review your research questions See whether you applied MLA/APA principles

accurately or not. Talk about method and data collection.

Williams and Chesterman (2002: 69) argue that “One of the secrets of research is learning how to ask good questions. Questions then lead to possible answers, and then to claims and hypotheses.”

Research questions are the backbones of the research.

You may begin with research questions that are too general and vague. But as you read more on the subject, you’ll formulate your questions better and be able to ask more specific ones. So, take your questions as tentative proposals and be ready to review and rewrite them as you proceed.

The answers to your research questions will serve as the “claim” of your research.

The answers you will be giving are your claims. A claim is your contribution to the field you are studying. A work without a claim looks like a summary of somebody else’s ideas.

You answer your research questions and arrive at your claims through

Logical analysis Examination of the data By intuition.

Specific claims are called “hypothesis” (plural: hypotheses)

Williams and Chesterman (2002:73) say“Much empirical research either starts or

ends with a hypothesis (a claim) of some kind. You might start off with a hypothesis to test, or end up by proposing a new one...Usually, you slowly generate your own hypothesis during a process of thought and data analysis, after a period of trial and error. Or you can make use of a hypothesis that has already been proposed by someone else, and try it out on your material or test it via logical argument...”

1. Interpretive hypothesis: “that something can be usefully defined as, or seen as, or interpreted as, something else, i.e. That a given conept is uesful for describing or understanding something.” (W&C 2002: 75)“Interpretive hypotheses are the basis of all conceptual analysis, all attempts to set up definitions and classifications of all kinds. Underlying them all is the claim that we shall understand some concept or phenomenon better if we see it in a certain way, for instance if we interpret it as being divided into three types, seven classes, etc” (W&C 2002: 76)

Translation studies are full of interpretive hypotheses. Williams and Chesterman list the following forms of interpretive hypotheses in translation studies:

translation can be defined/seen as.....there are x types of equivalencenorms of translation fall into x classes

2. Descriptive hypothesis: “that all instances of phenomenon X have observable features Y” (W&C 2002: 75)A descriptive hypothesis makes an empirical claim about the generality of a condition: it is an attempt to generalize. some examples are as follows:

translations tend to have simpler style than non-translated texts

translations of children’s books are freer than translations of other texts

technical translators in Turkey are paid more than literary translators today.

3. Explanatory hypothesis: “that a particular phenomenon X is caused or influenced by conditions or factors ABC”. explanatory hypotheses try to explain some feature of translation. For example,

the use of footnotes by the translator may be investigated. The translators tend to use footnotes in this situation.

the rejection of translations by the clients. The client tends to reject the translation in these situations...

4. Predictive hypothesis: “that conditions or factors ABC wil cause or influence phenomenon X”Predictive hypotheses are complementary to explanatory ones. They can predict the outcomes of some phenomena. for example: The translations having x qualities will probably be rejected by the client.

Author List your references alphabetically by the author’s last name,

then first name, e.g. Cone, Maria If there is no author, begin your reference with the book title or

the corporate author When there are two or more authors, list them in the order

they appear on the title page, not alphabetically Reverse the first name listed, but list additional authors in

normal form, e.g. Glick, Patty, and Mark Van Putten If there are more than three authors, you may list the first

name, followed by “et al.” b) Title Capitalize the first letter of each word in the title and italicize

the title Separate the title from the subtitle with a colon (:), e.g. The

Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology

City (Publisher Location) When many cities are listed as publisher

locations, always choose the first city Add an abbreviation for the state, province or

country only if the city may be unfamiliar to readers

Publisher When listing the publisher, use the briefest

form possible, omitting articles (a, the) and business abbreviations (Co., Corp., Ltd.) and, whenever possible, shortening the publisher’s name, e.g. UP, not University Press

Date Use the latest copyright date When full dates are provided (as for magazine

articles, web sites, etc.), they take the following format: Day Abbreviated Month Year, e.g. 25 Nov. 2009. Do not abbreviate the months of May, June and July

If the date of publication cannot be identified, use the abbreviation n.d. for “no date”

Medium of Publication Always include the medium of publication at

the end of the reference, e.g. Print, Web, DVD, CD-ROM, etc.

a) One Author Cone, Maria. Silent Snow: The Slow Poisoning

of the Arctic. New York: Grove, 2005. Print. b) Two Authors and Edition Other Than

the First Lutgens, Frederick K., and Edward J. Tarbuck.

The Atmosphere: An Introduction to Meteorology. 9th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2004. Print.

c) More Than Three Authors Andrews, Julian E., et al. An Introduction to

Environmental Chemistry. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. Print.

d) Editor Lemmen, Donald S., and Finola J. Warren, eds. Climate

Change: Impacts and Adaptation: A Canadian Perspective. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada, 2004. Print.

e) Work in an Anthology (Chapter from a Book) Glick, Patty, and Mark Van Putten. “Climate Change and

Wildlife – A Look Ahead.” Wildlife Responses to Climate Change: North American Case Studies. Eds. Stephen H. Schneider and Terry L. Root. Washington, DC: Island, 2002. 415-417. Print.

a) One or Two Authors Critchley, Trevor. “The Rainforests on Our Doorstep.” Ecologist 38.1

(2008): 38-42. Print. Cambrian College Library Citation Styles 3 b) More than Three Authors Botkin, Daniel B., et al. “Forecasting the Effects of Global Warming on

Biodiversity.” Bioscience 57.3 (2007): 227-236. Print. Article Title: Place the full title of the article in quotation marks and

capitalize the first letter of each word of the title Journal Title: Capitalize the first letter of each word of the journal title

and italicize it Volume and Issue Numbers: Include the volume and issue number

after the title and separate them with a period. If there is no volume or issue number, you may omit one or both from the reference

Date: The date is placed between parentheses and followed by the pagination. List only the year the journal was published, never the month or day

a) Entries Signed by the Author Kellogg, William W. “Greenhouse Effect.”

Encyclopedia of Climate and Weather. Ed. Stephen H. Schneider. 2 vols. New York: Oxford UP, 1996. Print.

Schneider, Stephen H. “Global Warming.” World Book Encyclopedia. Millennium ed. 2000. Print.

b) Entries with no Author “Ozone Layer.” The Facts on File Dictionary of

Ecology and the Environment. Ed. Jill Bailey. New York: Facts on File, 2004. Print.

Angus, Ian. “Ottawa’s Fraudulent Global Warming Plan.” Canadian Dimensions Sep./Oct. 2007: 52-55. MasterFILE Elite. Web. 31 Jan. 2009.

Coleman, Joseph. “Scientists Tout Seaweed, Algae as Solutions to Global Warming.” Toronto Star 10 Dec. 2007: B5. Canadian Newsstand. Web. 5 Mar. 2009.

Frumkin, Howard, et al. “Climate Change: The Public Health Response.” American Journal of Public Health 98.3 (2008): 435-445. Academic Search Premier. Web. 21 Jan. 2010.

Dessler, Andrew Emory and Edward A. Parson. The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change: A Guide to the Debate. Cambridge, England: Cambridge UP, 2005. NetLibrary. Web. 31 May 2009.

Review your bibliography. Have you followed the basic principles of reference giving?

conceptual (theoretical) vs empiricalIn theoretical (conceptual) research, the focus is on ideas. Conceptual research aims to clariy concepts, interpret ideas, to relate them into larger systems, to introduce new concepts or metaphors, or frameworks that allow a better understanding of the object of research.

conceptual (theoretical) vs empiricalIn empirical research, the focus is on

data. It seeks new data, new information derived from the observation of data and from experimental work; it seeks evidence which supports or disconfirms hypotheses or produce new ones.

Naturalistic vs experimentalNaturalistic research investigates a phenomenon as it takes place in real life in its natural setting.

An experimental research interferes with the natural order of things. A particular feature is isolated and investigated.

Qualitative vs quantitative researchThe goal of qualitative research is to describe the quality of something. It can lead to conclusions about what is possible, what can happen, etc.

Quantitative research says something about the generality of something: the frequencies, regularities, distributions, tendencies, etc. It seeks to measure things, to count, to compare statistically.

Case studies: A single unit is investigated: a single translator, a single translation, etc.

Pilot studies: A pilot study is an introductory case study. It aims to test research methodology.

Corpus studies: Corpus studies use a wide range of textual data. Translated (on non-translated) texts are archived and compared.

Survey studies: In survey studies, you explore some phenomena distributed in the population. The research involves the use of questionnaries and interviews.

Historical and archival studies: Involves the exploration, analysis and interpretation of existing documentary and other information, such as bibliographies and historical records of many kinds.

How would you categorize your research according to the types we have been discussing so far?

Edit your bibliography if necessary. Explain your research procedure step by

step. Start reading your bibliography, taking

notes if necessary.