Quality in translation in national translation companies within the context of total quality management criteria

The concept of quality is a notion defined differently by multiple disciplines and not having a single definition. The generally accepted objective quality criteria in quality of translation could not be determined due to the fact that translation practice has a subjective aspect. The quality in translation is tried to be achieved by linguistic criteria such as grammar, spelling, punctuation, number of words determined by translation companies. Many translation companies guarantee this quality with quality certificates such as ISO. In what extent does the quality standards required by the quality certificates or total quality criteria make the translations of the translation companies qualified? What is meant by quality translation? Many translation companies explain the quality of translation and quality control on their web pages. In this context, the purpose of the study is to determine which criteria the translation companies apply on their quality assessment, in what extent they supply equipment for their freelance and full-time translators and in what extent they can cover the customer demand. The reason for selecting such a topic is that there is not much study on this subject in Translation Studies and to give an opportunity to future studies by conducting an analysis on the quality issue in translation in terms of translation companies. In the introduction part of the thesis, general terms and development of the translation, the definition of the quality, quality standards in translation and interpretation, total quality management criteria, quality theories, quality standards such as ISO, translation theories and quality-related subjects will be addressed. In the analysis part, the understanding of quality translation, the compatibility to the quality theory of the applied criteria, the quality standards and total quality theories will be discussed by examining the translation companies in Turkey and their websites/mailing-phone call histories. In the theoretical part of the thesis, document review method, one of the qualitative research methods will be used. Netnography and interview methods will be used for data collection. The study will consist of the translation companies, members of the Association of Translation Companies (ÇİD) paying attention to the quality in translation within their company structure. As a result of the thesis, a new perspective will be presented on quality in translation in terms of companies and translators by synthesizing the understanding of translation companies on quality translation with the total quality management criteria and the quality theories.