We have now returned from what was a very busy and productive SIOP conference in Philadelphia. There were over 4,200 delegates and they enjoyed a packed programme with a wide variety of presentations on different topics.
Cicek Svensson and Sue Orchard were present in the Comms booth during the trade show times. Our booth was very popular as people told us that we had the very best candy and pens out of all the exhibitors!
We had a lot of interesting discussions and the following represent the main topics that people wished to discuss with us:
- Cross-cultural studies
- Whether translations could be carried out for assessments with lower levels of English
- Lots of requests for Spanish and Chinese
- Have experienced problems with putting their certifications in place
- Translation of websites, especially into Chinese
- International expansion
- Surveys and workforce
- Employee engagement
- Workplace motivation
- Normative data collection
In this and subsequent posts, we will go through these topics and provide some information and tips about translating, localising and adapting the items above.
Cross-cultural studies
Clinical assessments are often required to be used in other countries. We then need to ensure that they are meaningful and valid in the different countries. We have needed to localise and adapt the following items for different assessments (and this is not a comprehensive list):
- Weights and measures
- Currency
- Names
- Word lists (e.g. lists of birds)
- Phone numbers
- Calculations
- Stories
Here is an example of how we had to localise and adapt currency:
In a clinical psychology assessment that we translated into Hungarian, one of the tests required the respondent to make calculations using currency. The figure in US Dollars was 10.
If you just localize this, then you get 10 Forint, which is the local currency in Hungary. However, given that the exchange rate is $1 to 244 Forints, it makes no sense at all to have an amount which is the equivalent of 4 US pennies on which to do a calculation involving paying for something and getting change.
You then need to adapt the amount so that it is meaningful in a Hungarian setting. Given that the original amount was $10, you would multiply that 244 by 10 and round it to give an amount of 2,500 Forint. This is an amount that someone could easily take into a store to buy something and get change.
However, you also need to take into account the financial realities in other countries when adapting texts. In India, for example, the equivalent of $10 may be someone’s weekly wage, so it isn’t a trivial sum, whereas in the USA, $10 is, relatively speaking, a trivial sum. You therefore need to adapt this to a realistic sum for the target country.
I/O Assessments
In I/O terms, we look out for the following items (amongst others) that may not be culturally acceptable in other cultures:
- Types of sport
- Plays on words
- Jargon
- Acronyms
- Distractors that can’t be translated due to the nature of the target language
- Colloquialisms
As everyone knows, there are sayings in every country that are peculiar to that country. Here is an example of an interesting Swedish one.
Nu blir det andra bullar
Literally, this means “Now it is time for different buns”. What it actually means is “It is now time for radical change”.
Aus einer Mücke einen Elefanten machen.
This literally translates as “To make an elephant out of a mosquito”. The English equivalent expression is “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill”. i.e. don’t make a major issue out of a minor one or don’t exaggerate the importance of something.
This expression, alluding to the barely raised tunnels created by moles, was first recorded in John Fox’s The Book of Martyrs (1570).
In our next assessment post, we will talk about whether translations could be carried out for assessments with lower levels of English.
