Socio-Translational Collaboration in Qualitative Inquiry

In the face of long-standing neglect for issues of multilingualism in qualitative inquiry, this article proposes a novel collaborative approach to coping with translation issues in interviewing. Building on recent efforts at developing a better understanding of linguistic challenges to research methodology, the authors call for the systematic involvement of qualified interpreters and translators throughout the process of qualitative inquiry, and describe their role in all relevant stages of a research project, using expert interviews as a case in point. It is argued that such socio-translational collaboration can help ensure that social scientists engaging in qualitative inquiry will be “less lost in translation.”