Language Translations

Many survey projects at national and cross-national levels use questionnaires developed in one language and translated into another. The quality of these translations is a crucial factor in determining the comparability of the data collected. Conversely, poor translations of survey instruments have been identified as frequent and potentially major sources of survey measurement error. This entry outlines key aspects of conducting and monitoring survey language translations.

Essentially, translation allows researchers to collect data from people who cannot be interviewed in the language(s) in which a questionnaire is already available. In countries such as the United States, long-standing linguistic minorities and newly immigrated groups make translation into multiple languages essential to ensure adequate coverage and representation of different segments of the national population. The 2000 U.S. Census was available in six languages, with language aids being provided for 49 languages. The 2010 Census is likely to accommodate even more languages. In Switzerland, different segments of the population only speak one of the three main official languages. It is thus necessary to field Swiss national surveys in Italian, French, and Swiss German. At the same time, translation is occasionally motivated by official rather than practical requirements; in Great Britain, for example, some surveys are translated into Welsh, although most of the Welsh population uses English with native language competence.

Translation is not always part of an original survey research plan; sometimes it has to be added at short notice in order to interview unanticipated linguistic groups. Questionnaires or sets of questions are also sometimes simply “borrowed” from one study for use in another. In being borrowed for a new population, they may also need to be translated. Medical, psychological, and educational diagnostic instruments, often developed at great cost, are regularly adapted for new locations on the basis of translation. The aim may simply be to use the questions, not to compare data across populations. These are usually proprietary instruments for which permission is required and a fee possibly levied. In the cross-national context, international surveys may occasionally be able to use English as a lingua franca and thus avoid translating. However, most multi-lingual and cross-national projects must rely on translation to produce questionnaires in the languages needed.