Translation workplace-based research

Technological developments have dramatically changed the practice of translation while at the same time opening up new opportunities to do research into the realities of professional translation where it actually happens. An increasing commitment to ecological validity is currently encouraging a shift from university classrooms and laboratories to workplace-based research. Early studies tended to rely on single methods and/or cases, but more recent ones have used a variety of quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect various types of data as professional translators do their work at their normal workplaces. The methodological considerations involved in doing workplace-based research are more complex than in some other settings, but good practices are emerging to deal with the logistical and ethical challenges that this type of research inevitably entails. Nevertheless, there are issues related to access, available resources and recruitment that also have to be considered. After reviewing these, we reflect on how the framework of transdisciplinary action research may offer a logical solution for translation workplace-based studies, since it considers practitioners to be necessary and active partners in the process