Employing retrospective process tracing in an international exploratory study

Abstract

This paper reports on a RPT study which employed an adapted version of the three-stage method used by Herring (2018). The same stimulus and method were employed with two distinct populations (experienced medical interpreters in the USA and student interpreters in Poland), with the aim of refining RPT methods and exploring the feasibility of their use in multi-researcher, multi-site studies. The authors discuss the process of developing and carrying out a study design and procedure for use by two researchers across two sites and with two populations, critically address the effectiveness of the use of the method & procedure by two researchers, and discuss recommendations for future studies employing similar designs and methods. The paper also presents preliminary analysis of the RPT data gathered as part of the study and suggests avenues for further research.