Sign Language Interpreter-Mediated Qualitative Interview with Deaf Participants in Ghana: Some Methodological Reflections for Practice
Sign Language Interpreter-Mediated Qualitative Interview with Deaf Participants in Ghana: Some Methodological Reflections for Practice
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2022
Authors
Sekyere, Owusu Frank
Adjei, Baffour Stephen
Boateng, Philip
Sam, Tara Sarah
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The Qualitative Report
Abstract
Qualitative research is adventurous and creative, and committed to understanding unique human
experiences in specific cultural ecologies. Qualitative interviewing with Deaf participants is far more
challenging for hearing researchers who do not understand sign language, and for this reason such
interactions may require the use of a sign language interpreter to facilitate the interview process.
However, the quality of sign language interpreter-mediated interactions is likely to be compromised due to
omissions, oversights, misinterpretations or additions that may occur during translation. An unthoughtful
and poor interpretation of a communicative event by a sign language interpreter during a qualitative
interview with Deaf participants may lead to an imposition of the interpreter’s or the researcher’s realities
on Deaf participants’ lived experiences. It is thus important that qualitative researchers who conduct sign
language interpreter-mediated interviews with Deaf participants employ practical and flexible ways to
enhance such interactions. To understand the everyday realities of Deaf people amid the Covid-19
pandemic in Ghana, and document same to inform policy and practice, we conducted qualitative
interviews with Deaf participants in Ghana. In this article, we draw insights from our data collection
experiences with Deaf participants in Ghana to offer some useful methodological reflections for
minimizing omissions in sign language-mediated qualitative interviews and thereby enhancing qualitative
data quality. We particularly discuss how qualitative researchers can use language flexibility and post interview informal conversations with a sign language interpreter to create a natural non-formal
interactional atmosphere that engenders natural conversational flow to minimize interpretation omissions
and differential power relations in sign language interpreter-mediated qualitative interviews with Deaf
participants.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Adjei, S. B., Sam, S. T., Sekyere, F. O., & Boateng, P. (2022). Sign Language Interpreter-Mediated Qualitative Interview with Deaf Participants in Ghana: Some Methodological Reflections for Practice. The Qualitative Report, 27(1), 79-95.