Preparing and comparing subtitles for quasi-experimental and experimental research in audiovisual translation studies

Abstract

Empirical research on cognitive processing in AVT has been on the rise in recent years. A number of overarching works have recommended more standardised approaches and methodological frameworks to contribute to more streamlined, replicable, reproducible and valid future AVT research. To date, the issue of comparability of research materials (e.g., clips, subtitle tracks, comprehension questionnaires) and, more specifically, how to achieve comparability in quasi-experimental and experimental studies, particularly those involving repeated measures, has received little attention. This paper aims to address this knowledge gap by proposing a common-sense ten-step preparatory process for quasi-experimental and experimental subtitling studies. This preparatory process has previously been used in the S4AE project. The paper will focus on the final four steps, consisting of the preparation and comparison of multiple subtitle tracks. These steps were conceptualized taking into account the present research on subtitle parameters and the obstacles encountered while preparing comparable subtitle tracks.