1 / 17

Issues in Questionnaire Translation

Issues in Questionnaire Translation. Mitchell Loeb National Center for Health Statistics/ Washington Group on Disability Statistics With special thanks to: Alisú Schoua-Glusberg, Ph.D. Research Support Services. Why focus on Questionnaire Translation? .

danielkim
Télécharger la présentation

Issues in Questionnaire Translation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Issues in Questionnaire Translation Mitchell Loeb National Center for Health Statistics/ Washington Group on Disability Statistics With special thanks to: Alisú Schoua-Glusberg, Ph.D. Research Support Services WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  2. Why focus on Questionnaire Translation? The purpose of questionnaire translation is to produce instruments that maintain equivalence of measurement across languages/dialects, to achieve a functionally equivalent and culturally appropriate version of the original instrument. Only in this way will it be possible to achieve results that are comparable cross-nationally. WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  3. When is Questionnaire Translation Necessary? • Cross-national studies • National studies by Federal Statistical Agencies that will include multiple local cultures and capture the diversity of emerging immigrant populations • Studies of special populations – for example, Hispanic populations in the US that would involve different national varieties/dialects of Spanish (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Haitian etc.) WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  4. Defining Target Audience • Language minorities • Immigrant populations • Monolingual (or at least not bilingual) • Language different from designers’ • Lower level of education • Hybrid culture • Different degrees of acculturation WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  5. Questions to Consider in Translation • Matching meaning? • Matching measurement? • Asking the same question? • When does “close” count? WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  6. Effects of Overly Close Translation • Focus on meaning of words rather than meaning of questions • Respondents are inadvertently asked a different question • Processing is more complex • Translated questionnaire sounds unidiomatic WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  7. Survey Translation • One translator – one translation • Multiple translators – one translation (split committee) • Multiple translators – multiple parallel translations (parallel committee) • A note on back translation WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  8. Committee Approach • Three translators prepare translations independently (split or parallel) • Reconciliation meeting with referee • Qualitative research with monolinguals (focus groups and/or cognitive interviews) WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  9. Steps in producing and testing question translations • Translation • Translation review • Decisions/Adjudication • Quality control • Qualitative research • Pretesting • Documentation WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  10. Reconciliation Meeting • Question-by-question review • Reaching consensus when possible • Providing alternatives if no consensus possible • Identifying terms/items for qualitative research WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  11. Referee’s role • Resolves style disagreements • Manages interaction • Brings survey researcher perspective • Keeps an eye on source version • Pushes for global decisions • Liaison with research team for consultation and documentation WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  12. Focus groups • Allow for the ability to distinguish what is idiosyncratic • Allow us to listen to how Respondents use language • Allow to include more people in a shorter time • Allow to include different national origin Respondents and see if they reach consensus WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  13. Cognitive Interviews • Allow to administer all or part of instrument • Give a glimpse into thought processes • Allow to see how different alternative terms work WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  14. Advantages of Approach • Group process benefits • Include different varieties of language in translation team • Incorporates target population into process • Relatively low cost • Relatively quick WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  15. What is wrong with back translation? Back Translation is a black box: we know what went in, we know what came out, yet we know nothing about the adequacy of the translated version. It consists of 2 consecutive individual translations – compounding the weaknesses of the translator’s idiosyncrasies and possible uneven skills in both languages. WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  16. Efforts to Standardize Translation Procedures • Census Bureau Translation Guidelines • International Social Survey Program • European Social Survey • Survey Research Organizations WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

  17. Standardizing Translated Versions of the Same Questions Issues: • Maintaining longitudinal comparability vs. improving questions • Is priority to compare with past translations or with original English questionnaire? • Is there a strong will to overcome political (& power) issues? • Negotiations can be arduous WG-11 Southampton, Bermuda

More Related