Participant profiling

Abstract

This chapter presents and explains core aspects related to participant selection and description in translation and interpreting research. It illustrates the importance of relevant and detailed participant profiling for research validity, transparency and replication purposes, and suggests best practices for doing so. It also considers various methods and tools of CTIS and neighboring disciplines for information collection of participant cognitive abilities, linguistic and metalinguistic knowledge. Examples are provided of how participant characteristics can also be used as research variables in exploratory or experimental studies. Ethical issues underlying participant recruitment, data collection and testing procedures are also discussed, and solutions compliant with ethical research standards are proposed. Limitations of the development and implementation of participant profile tools are addressed, as well as ways to overcome them.