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Language Proficiency And Use Of Interpreters/Translators In Fieldwork: A Survey Of Us-Based Anthropologists And Sociologists, Katarzyna Sepielak, Dawid Wladyka, William Yaworsky

Sociology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The proficiency in vernacular has long been a methodological ethos pervasive among field researchers and—despite new dynamics of fieldwork—still overshadows discussions related to collaboration with translators and interpreters, which are either marginalized or hidden within the category of a ‘research assistant’. The purpose of this study is to take a step beyond anecdotal evidence and explore trends in language proficiency and use of translation services among US based field researchers who had conducted international or domestic studies in an area where a language other than English was present. We conducted the largest-to-date survey on the subject and analyzed 913 responses …