A procedure to prevent differences in translated survey items using SQP

Type Working Paper - RECSM Working Paper
Title A procedure to prevent differences in translated survey items using SQP
Author(s)
Issue 38
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2014
URL http://www.upf.edu/survey/_pdf/RECSM_wp038.pdf
Abstract
Survey translation has developed best practice procedures to translate survey
instruments aiming that the same stimuli and measurement properties should be
provided. However, it is very difficult to check in a systematic way these requirements.
Current procedures in translation assessment do not link the quality of the translation
with a formal test of measurement equivalence. In addition, monitoring the formal
structure of translated questionnaires in cross-sectional surveys is challenging. This
paper presents a procedure to prevent differences in the form of translated survey
instruments using Survey Quality Prediction program (SQP). SQP asks users to code a
large set of properties of a survey item. Deviations in translations are detected by
comparing the codes of a source questionnaire and targeted languages. The paper
summarizes the findings of this procedure implemented in a set of items in the Round
5 of the European Social Survey (ESS).

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