Evans, C. orcid.org/0000-0002-4197-4202, Paz, C. and Mascialino, G. (2021) “Infeliz” or “Triste”: a paradigm for mixed methods exploration of outcome measures adaptation across language variants. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. 695893. ISSN 1664-1078
Abstract
The literature on measure translation tends to hold, overtly or covertly, a questionable assumption about the possibility of exact translation and almost completely ignores issues of within language variation. Equally, psychometric methods used to assess cross-cultural validity after translation focus on large sample tests of cross-sectional measurement invariance. Such invariance is often not found and is of dubious pertinence to change/outcome measures usually used in psychotherapy research. We present a sequential process of three substudies using quantitative and qualitative procedures to explore whether an outcome measure needs to be changed when used across language variation. Qualitative data confirmed that an item was not ideal in the new context. However, quantitative exploration showed that, although statistically significant and affected by gender and item order, the impact of changing the item in the overall score was small, allowing retention of the existing Spanish translation. We argue that the myth of perfect translation and over-reliance on large-sample psychometric testing pursuing measurement invariance limit exploration of language effects. We recommend that these be used in the companion of user-based, sequential, mixed-method exploration to support the development of a richer field of understanding of outcomes and change self-report measures across languages and cultures and both across and within languages.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Evans, Paz and Mascialino. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | cross-cultural adaptation; outcome measures; translations; mixed methods; research methodology; CORE-OM (Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation—Outcome Measure); recommendations |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Psychology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 17 Aug 2021 09:43 |
Last Modified: | 18 Aug 2021 02:57 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media SA |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.695893 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:177172 |