Thinking about your Dissertation / Masters Thesis

1. CHOOSING A TOPIC
When it comes to choosing a topic and a focus for the dissertation, most students tend to think
in terms of a linguistic problem e.g. an area of terminology or a specific text e.g. the
translation of a novel. Of course, you can choose either of these but there are many more
options you could consider.
In The Name and Nature of Translation Studies (1972), James Holmes proposed a conceptual
map that identified the things that could be done in the (then) embryonic discipline of translation
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studies. Although Translation Studies has evolved considerably over the last forty years ,
Holmes pioneering work may still suggest topics and/or approaches for your dissertation.
Translation Studies

'P ure'

Applied

Theoretical
General

Medium
Restricted

Descriptive

P artial

Area
Restricted

P roduct
Oriented

Rank
Restricted

P rocess Function
Oriented Oriented

Text-Type
Restricted

Translator
Training

Time
Restricted

Translation
Aids

Translation
Criticism

P roblem
Restricted

Holmes map of translation studies (from Toury 1991:181); in Munday p.10.

A: Pure Translation Studies
Holmes divided pure translation studies into descriptive translation studies and theoretical
translation studies (or translation theory). Descriptive (as opposed to prescriptive) translation
studies were meant to describe what translators actually do - not prescribe what is "good" or
"correct". Holmes intended theoretical translation studies to use the results of descriptive
translation studies to evolve principles, theories, and models which would explain and predict
what translating and translations are and will be.
(a) Descriptive Translation Studies (DTS) focuses on three areas of research:

Products of Translation (synchronic; diachronic)

(= WHAT?)

Functions of Translation (translation sociology or socio-translation studies)

(= WHY? WHO FOR? )

Processes of Translation (psychology of translation or psycho-translation studies

(= HOW?)

The results of DTS research can then be applied to develop:

For criticisms of Holmes map and a more up-to-date discussion of Translation Studies, see:
Remapping Translation Studies: Towards a Translation Studies Ontology (2008) by Sonia Vandepitte:
University College of Ghent, Belgium http://www.erudit.org/revue/meta/2008/v53/n3/019240ar.html

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Douglas Andrew Town
Maestra en Traduccin

Thinking about your Dissertation / Masters Thesis

(b) Theoretical Translation Studies, subdivided into:

A GENERAL THEORY of translation (very ambitious!)

PARTIAL THEORIES restricted according to:

Medium : human translation (written and oral); machine translation; and
combinations of the two
Area: restricted to specific languages or cultures e.g. English to Spanish
Rank: e.g. - restricted to a specific level of the text: e.g. paragraph, sentence or
word level
Text type: analyze specific discourse types or genres e.g. literary texts,
technical writings, etc.
Time: limited to specific time frames and periods or examine differences
between contemporary and older translations
Problem: e.g. problems of equivalence when translating proper names or
metaphors

B: Applied Translation Studies

With regard to applied translation studies, Holmes distinguished three areas: Translator
Training; Translation Aids; and Translation Criticism
TRANSLATOR
TRAINING

TEACHING

TESTING

CURRICULUM

METHODS

TECHNIQUES

PLANNING

TRANSLATION
AIDS

IT APPLICATIONS

DICTIONARIES

GRAMMARS

Translation software
On-line databases
Use of Internet

TRANSLATION
CRITICISM

EVALUATION
REVISION

OF
TRANSLATIONS

REVIEWS

Although Translation Policy overlaps with FUNCTIONS, on Holmess map, some authors
include it within Applied Translation Studies. Pym (1998) pointed out that translators should be

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Douglas Andrew Town
Maestra en Traduccin

Thinking about your Dissertation / Masters Thesis

included among our research objects- especially given the increasing interest in translators
agency, subjectivity and status in this discipline.

TRANSLATION
POLICY

PLACE AND ROLE

PLACE AND ROLE

PLACE AND ROLE

OF TRANSLATORS

OF TRANSLATING

OF TRANSLATIONS

IN SOCIETY

IN SOCIETY

IN SOCIETY

Finally, here is a (differently arranged) list of research objects of translation studies. Please note
that these interact and have overlaps:
Translation: definition, history, functions, types, influences, evaluation, criticism
Translator: roles, personal development, idiosyncrasies, social relationships
Translating: materials to be translated, cognitive processes, strategies, procedures &
workflows, aids, external influences (e.g., skopos), ethics
Translation Studies: purpose, research objects, research methods, disciplinary
orientation, history, research trends
For a much longer, interactive list of topics in translation studies, please see:
http://benjamins.com/online/hts/

For more ideas, download this book for free:

The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies, Revised Edition
http://doc.nytud.hu/~tpinter/html/KGRE/2012/ford/olv/Routledge_companion_Translation_Studies.pdf

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2. WRITING YOUR THESIS PROPOSAL

Your proposal should be approximately 3,000 words in length (excluding the bibliography). It
can be written in Spanish or in English and it should be structured under the following headings:
SUMMARY
Please summarize your thesis proposal in two or three paragraphs. Include all key aspects
that you have elaborated upon: topic, problem, objectives, literature, research questions,
methods, and relevance of your study.
1. TOPIC, OBJECTIVES and JUSTIFICATION
What topic or problem do you wish to explore or resolve?
What do you hope to find out and/or achieve by undertaking this research?
What is original about the research you are proposing to undertake?
Why is it important to do this?
2. SHORT LITERATURE REVIEW (Breve resea bibliogrfica)
The literature review should explain how your research topic is related to significant literature
and current trends in your field.
What has been written about this topic before?
What are the relevant debates, theories and findings?
What are the key ideas, theories, concepts, and findings in the current literature on that
topic, and on those specific problems?

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Douglas Andrew Town
Maestra en Traduccin

Thinking about your Dissertation / Masters Thesis

Please note: your literature review must be pertinent to the topic and the research problem. Do
not write a general history of discourse analysis or translation theory!!!
3. THEORETICAL CONCERNS (Cuestiones tericas)
Here you should state your own ideas about the topic.
What has been overlooked in the existing studies and theories in relation to the topic
and the research problem you are interested in?
Are there any new factors, ideas, problems, concepts, etc. that you think should be
considered and added to the debate?
You should also say how you intend to extend existing research:

What theory or theories do you intend to draw on in structuring your research?

o Note that theoretical insights do not have to come from the field of translation
studies; they can be drawn from a variety of disciplines, including discourse
analysis, postcolonial studies, linguistics, sociology, history, gender studies,
literary theory, cultural studies, etc

4. RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND THE WORKING HYPOTHESIS (Preguntas de la

investigacin e hiptesis de trabajo)

Questions:

Working Hypothesis:

5. METHODOLOGY
Explain briefly how you intend to go about doing the research.

Research Design: indicate whether your study is exploratory, descriptive, explanatory

or predictive, hypothesis generating or hypothesis testing. Are you following a
qualitative, a quantitative or a mixed research design?)

Method: Interviews, questionnaires, think-aloud protocols, analysis of corpora,

contrastive textual analysis etc.

Materials: written tests, texts, textbooks, tape recorders

and/or
Participants: How many people will take part? How will they be selected?
Characteristics (male, female, professional, students?

Data and data sources: What material will you be analysing - in terms of genres, subgenres, recorded interpreted utterances, sources of retrieving material, period of
publication, source and target languages, etc.. Where will this material come from
(libraries, on-line sources, corpora?

Data collection and analysis: Procedures for data collection; methods of analysis)
o Operationalise your research questions: for instance, what kind of elements
(linguistic or otherwise) would need to be identified and described?
o Will you start the research with already established research categories
(deductive approach) or will you look for the categories (to code) to emerge
from the data (inductive approach/grounded theory)?
NB Inductive approaches are much more difficult!!!
Will your analysis of the coding be qualitative, quantitative or both?

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Douglas Andrew Town
Maestra en Traduccin

Thinking about your Dissertation / Masters Thesis

6. ANTICIPATED PROBLEMS (Problemas previsibles)

If your plan is to interview other translators, bear in mind that many translators dont like talking
about their work and will simply not cooperate (one of my tutees found this out recently to his
cost); there may be problems of confidentiality regarding their work, their clients, etc.
7. TENTATIVE CHAPTER OUTLINE (Esquema temtico: captulos provisionales)
What is the planned outline of your thesis? Give a title to each chapter and within each
chapter a heading to each section with very brief summary of what it will cover.
8. RESEARCH PLAN / TIMETABLE
The research plan / timetable is your plan of action. It can be formatted as a list or a table of
concrete tasks / activities and deadlines. It should clearly state when - .e.g. June 2013, January
2014 - you will start and complete key aspects of your thesis research, such as literature review,
fieldwork (if any), drafting each chapter, consultations with your tutor, producing a first draft of
the entire thesis, and submitting the final work.
Note: Please respect the deadlines for the MA Thesis (which define a general time plan for you
and your Supervisor) which will be sent separately.
9. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Please list in alphabetical order the literature and sources you have used for producing this
thesis proposal. This is not going to be the comprehensive list that you will use for writing your
actual thesis.

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Douglas Andrew Town
Maestra en Traduccin