Research participants invited! Dissertation (favor) Thread poster: MonicaRodrigue
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Hello!
My name is Monica Rodriguez. I am a doctoral candidate at Kent State University. I am conducting a study that will help me collect data for my dissertation. I am studying sources and foci of feelings of satisfaction in the language industry.
Are you a satisfied translator? The survey measures levels of satisfaction participants feel regarding their professional lives, current job, current tasks, or current roles in the language industry. I need responses from tr... See more Hello!
My name is Monica Rodriguez. I am a doctoral candidate at Kent State University. I am conducting a study that will help me collect data for my dissertation. I am studying sources and foci of feelings of satisfaction in the language industry.
Are you a satisfied translator? The survey measures levels of satisfaction participants feel regarding their professional lives, current job, current tasks, or current roles in the language industry. I need responses from translators, localizers, terminologists, editors, proofreaders, technical writers, DTP specialists, multimedia translators, etc. who are active professionals as defined below:
- working onsite or offsite;
- salaried or as a subcontractor (freelancer);
- working part time or full time (translation can be your primary, secondary or tertiary source of income).
If you are a translation professional who receives all or some of your income from the language industry, this will take a short segment of your time. Please click on the following link http://kentstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_79Q7fIfFmPt9f5W (or cut and paste it onto your internet browser) to have access to the study. A gift card of $5 will be sent to the first fifty participants as a gesture of appreciation.
Thank you very much in advance,
Saludos,
Mónica R. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Phil Hand 
China
Local time: 09:13
Chinese to English
| Too long, sorry | Apr 25, 2011 |
Monica, I started, but I couldn't finish. That's a long, long survey. Why do you need all that information about what file formats I use?
I always try to help with these surveys, but you should try to make one which gets straight to the point.
| | | | | Yes, it takes more than 30 min. | Apr 25, 2011 |
I completed your survey. Good luck. There was one question that I could not answer properly.
I am a shareholder of a tiny Co.,Ltd and the one and only employee
That option is not among the choices provided.
[Edited at 2011-04-25 10:13 GMT]
| | | | Cetacea
Switzerland
Local time: 02:13
English to German
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| Well done, Monica! | Apr 25, 2011 |
Phil Hand wrote:
Monica, I started, but I couldn't finish. That's a long, long survey. Why do you need all that information about what file formats I use? I always try to help with these surveys, but you should try to make one which gets straight to the point.
Couldn't disagree more! Finally, a detailed survey that takes into account the complexity of this job, including such (sometimes very time-consuming) details as file formats. Besides, it really doesn't take that long if you're aware of your own habits, preferences and sentiments... At any rate, I enjoyed participating, and all the best with your dissertation!
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Phil,
I apologize for designing it so long. But no data, no dissertation results!
I want to differentitate experts and novices, and technical expertise. For example, localizers and highly specialized translators will use some of those source files, whereas a literary translator will use mostly .doc files. So this questions is important to understand many factors, including task satisfaction.
Thanks a million! Monica
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 18:13
Dutch to English
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Sorry, I tried but I could not continue beyond the question how many words per year I translate. Most of the time I don't charge per word but per hour, so I have to way of adding up the number of words. It is really too bad that I can't complete the survey just because of that one question. If I'm forced to answer all questions, it's no longer voluntary.
| | | | Russell Jones
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:13
Italian to English
| Observations | Apr 25, 2011 |
I took part in the survey and hope it is helpful.
I did find it difficult (as a single freelancer) knowing how to answer the questions on teams and teamwork. I understood (I think) that this was meant to include e.g. agency project managers but my experience of these is so diverse that selecting a single option is almost meaningless. The questions tend to imply regular, ongoing relationships and, while I do have these with some agency clients, I have just as many one-off, single project ... See more I took part in the survey and hope it is helpful.
I did find it difficult (as a single freelancer) knowing how to answer the questions on teams and teamwork. I understood (I think) that this was meant to include e.g. agency project managers but my experience of these is so diverse that selecting a single option is almost meaningless. The questions tend to imply regular, ongoing relationships and, while I do have these with some agency clients, I have just as many one-off, single project jobs of limited size.
In fact, dealing with this constantly changing, unpredictable client market is one of the main challenges of the job and the questionnaire didn't appear to focus on it.
It was not obvious whether the data will differentiate between attitudes and experiences in different countries but cultural differences are naturally something that translators are especially sensitive to.
[Edited at 2011-04-25 18:19 GMT]
[Edited at 2011-04-25 18:19 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Ana Malovrh
Slovenia
Local time: 02:13
Member (2010)
German to Slovenian
+ ...
| The survey is about our general opinion | Apr 26, 2011 |
Hello Monica,
I understand your questions are about general opinion therefore I had no problems concerning the facts I cooperate with many different teams.
Good luck with your work!
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Russell,
I completely agree with your opinion. This is a general opinion, or a general attitude toward team work. Correct, depending on the project scope, teams are arranged in any number of ways.
Unfortunately, there is no empirical research on team satisfaction in our field, so I am sure that there are any number of limitations. For sure, our findings will suggest something new.
There we go! "In fact, dealing with this constantly changing, unpredictable... See more Russell,
I completely agree with your opinion. This is a general opinion, or a general attitude toward team work. Correct, depending on the project scope, teams are arranged in any number of ways.
Unfortunately, there is no empirical research on team satisfaction in our field, so I am sure that there are any number of limitations. For sure, our findings will suggest something new.
There we go! "In fact, dealing with this constantly changing, unpredictable client market is one of the main challenges of the job and the questionnaire didn't appear to focus on it." Correct, I did not ask you directly, but I asked you indirectly about process sytematization, role of the PM, and business practices. Some LSPs have a process in place to deal with constant change, and specific business practices to manage these situations.
I am not looking at variables concerning practices in different countries since I am assuming that we are assuming that globalization trends affect all of us. However, I am looking at cultural intelligence and I will triangulate it with other variables.
Thanks a million, everyone. You are helping me to understand limitations of this study!
best,Monica ▲ Collapse
| | | | B D Finch
France
Local time: 02:13
French to English
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| Research design glitch | Apr 27, 2011 |
Long before being a professional translator, I was a student and part-time teacher of Sociology and Methods of Social Research. A problem with your study does, therefore, seem rather obvious to me, i.e. that you are using data from a self-selecting sample, which is going to be a biased sample. However interesting your results may be, they will not be statistically valid. For a start, as the comments have told me before I looked at your questionnaire that it is a long one, that means that, I am... See more Long before being a professional translator, I was a student and part-time teacher of Sociology and Methods of Social Research. A problem with your study does, therefore, seem rather obvious to me, i.e. that you are using data from a self-selecting sample, which is going to be a biased sample. However interesting your results may be, they will not be statistically valid. For a start, as the comments have told me before I looked at your questionnaire that it is a long one, that means that, I am not likely to answer it. You have introduced a bias against busy translators by making it long and multiplied that bias by using the Forum to issue your survey, which means that respondants can warn off other potential respondants. You are also limiting your respondants to those who consult the Forums: are they typical of the population of translators?
Using this Forum is also liable to invalidate results because of the possibility of respondants influencing each others' answers.
Of course, it is possible that you are not trying to draw any statistical conclusions and just want qualitative data. However, given what other people have said about your questions, that seems unlikely. I suggest that it might help to consult some books about research design.
Sorry if this sounds negative.
BDF ▲ Collapse
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BDF,
I understand that it is long, but some variables are triangulated, and I want to have good results. I am gathering data for my dissertation, so I need an instrument that is reliable.
In fact, a professor of Sociology helped me with this instrument. He checked the instrument for validity and reliability.
This is just one of the many ways the survey was circulated. So requirements for sample representativeness has been met.
I can send you th... See more BDF,
I understand that it is long, but some variables are triangulated, and I want to have good results. I am gathering data for my dissertation, so I need an instrument that is reliable.
In fact, a professor of Sociology helped me with this instrument. He checked the instrument for validity and reliability.
This is just one of the many ways the survey was circulated. So requirements for sample representativeness has been met.
I can send you the References that I used to design the instrument.
I understand that people are busy, but many translators are also committed to translation research, and they want it to be recognized as a profession.
Good luck, MR ▲ Collapse
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