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bifurcation

English translation: cutting corners

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
French term or phrase:bifurcation
English translation:cutting corners
Entered by: kashew

01:10 Nov 3, 2009
French to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
French term or phrase: bifurcation
I'm confused by the following sentence; I haven't seen "bifurcation" used in this way before:

Les contraintes temporelles peuvent conduire le chercheur à faire certaines bifurcations et à fragiliser la qualité de son échantillon.

faire certaines bifurcations = prendre des raccourcis??
John Detre
Canada
cutting corners
Explanation:
Or, "diverging" from strict procedure.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2009-11-03 11:32:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or more grammatically correct, "corner-cutting".
Selected response from:

kashew
France
Local time: 01:58
Grading comment
Thanks everyone. All the answers were helpful and I hesitated about which one to take, but I ended up going with "depart from procedure" to express the idea of a shortcut without coming out and saying it, and to keep some of the meaning of "bifurcation." Thanks for putting me on the right track kashew.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
3 +4change
Chris Hall
4 +3cutting corners
kashew
3 +3short-cuts
Bashiqa
4branching
André Vanasse (X)
3turnaround
Miranda Joubioux (X)


  

Answers


5 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +4
change


Explanation:
The time constraints may lead the researcher to make certain changes and weaken the quality of his / her sample.

Source: Collins Robert French Dictionary
bifurcation (fig. = changement) - change.

Chris Hall
Local time: 00:58
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 47

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  emiledgar
29 mins
  -> Many thanks - much appreciated. Kind regards, Chris.
agree  mimi 254
6 hrs
agree  Sheila Wilson: Seems to me the source text is trying to avoid mentioning short-cuts
6 hrs
agree  Evans (X)
8 hrs
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6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +3
short-cuts


Explanation:
Because of the time constraints.

Bashiqa
France
Local time: 01:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 32

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Mark Bossanyi: The researcher might be tempted to take short-cuts due to lack of time
5 mins
  -> Merci.
agree  kashew
3 hrs
  -> Merci.
agree  Verginia Ophof
8 hrs
  -> Merci.
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
turnaround


Explanation:
Another possibility.

Miranda Joubioux (X)
Local time: 01:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 11
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
branching


Explanation:
Take different routes, different ways.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 8 hrs (2009-11-03 09:11:03 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Use different approaches, possibly shortcuts, thus jeopardizing the validity of the results.

André Vanasse (X)
South Korea
Local time: 08:58
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in FrenchFrench, Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: What would that mean in my context? Go off track?

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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
cutting corners


Explanation:
Or, "diverging" from strict procedure.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 10 hrs (2009-11-03 11:32:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Or more grammatically correct, "corner-cutting".

kashew
France
Local time: 01:58
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 74
Grading comment
Thanks everyone. All the answers were helpful and I hesitated about which one to take, but I ended up going with "depart from procedure" to express the idea of a shortcut without coming out and saying it, and to keep some of the meaning of "bifurcation." Thanks for putting me on the right track kashew.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  ormiston: in the sense that they are deviating from the norm
1 hr
  -> thanks
agree  Cynthia Kelly: depending on the level of language of the document "cutting corners" or "diverging" from strict procedure are two good choices.
7 hrs
  -> Thanks
agree  whither has fle: Hello, all suggested translations seem correct to me but just as a qestion of wording I'd feel happier with "diverging from strict procedure" and anybody reading the text would understand the risk involved. Cheers.
1 day 8 hrs
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