Translation East

1
Translation East West

• Fanny M. Cheung
• Department of Psychology
• The Chinese University of Hong Kong
• Symposium on Test Translation
• ICP 2004, Beijing
• fmcheung_at_cuhk.edu.hk

2
Use of Translated Tests

• Most psychological tests are developed in English
  in Western societies
• Can we use translated tests as if they are
  equivalent to the original tests?

3
Standards of Test Translation

• Marsella et al. (2000) Types of equivalence
• Linguistic equivalence
• Conceptual equivalence
• Scale equivalence
• Normative equivalence

4
Standards of Test Translation

• Linguistic Equivalence    
• Idioms e.g. MMPI-2
• In walking I am very careful to step over
  sidewalk cracks
• Slang or colloquialism
• feel blue, get high
• Emotions intensity
• Frequency sometimes, often

5
Standards of Test Translation

• Linguistic Equivalence    
• Back-translation procedure for accurate
  translation
• Consultation with original author to ascertain
  meaning of the item

6
Standards of Test Translation

• Conceptual equivalence
• Cultural relevance of the item
• MMPI-2
• I would like to be an auto racer
• I like mechanics magazine
• I used to like to play hopscotch and jump rope
• counting bulbs on electric signs
• work as a forest ranger

7
Standards of Test Translation

• Conceptual equivalence
• Cultural relevance of the item
• CPAI-2 Chinese to Japanese translation
• Eating certain foods causes people to feel
  agitated
• Mental disorders are caused by malfunctions of
  the vital organs
• (Somatization)

8
Standards of Test Translation

• Conceptual equivalence
• Similarity in the nature and meaning of a concept
• MMPI Most anytime I would rather sit and
  daydream than do anything else ? depression
  among Chinese?

9
Standards of Test Translation

• Conceptual equivalence
• Similarity in the nature and meaning of a concept
• CPAI-2 Chinese to Japanese translation
• In order to save money, I take public transport
  whenever I go out (Thrift?)
• I like drawing or doing calligraphy in my spare
  time. (Aesthetics?)

10
Statistical methods to ascertain equivalence of
measures

• Scale equivalence
• Scalar equivalence
• Comparing the scale score distributions
• Comparing the extent to which the scale scores
  indicate the same degree, intensity or magnitude
  of the characteristic being measured in both
  cultures.

11
Statistical methods to ascertain equivalence of
measures

• Scale equivalence
• Metric equivalence
• Comparing the psychometric properties of the two
  versions, including item endorsement rates,
  item-scale correlations, and factor analyses
• Functional equivalence
• Examining the instruments inter-item or
  inter-scale correlations

12
Statistical methods to ascertain equivalence of
measures

• Normative equivalence
• Suitable norms are available for the group being
  studied
• Adjust norms based on local samples
• Collect local norms

13
Examples

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Assessment
  Inventory-2
• Cross-cultural (Chinese) Personality Assessment
  Inventory-2

14
Strategy for translation and adaptation of MMPI-2

• Butcher (1996) MMPI-2
•  Requirements expected of the test translator and
  back translator
• Techniques in translating complex or obscure
  expressions
• Care in maintaining the original meaning
•   

15
Strategy for translation and adaptation of the
MMPI-2

• Butcher (1996)
• Ways to adapt or modify items that could not be
  translated meaningfully     
• Use of a field test of the provisional
  translations and a bilingual retest method be
  adopted to identify problematic items

16
Strategy for translation and adaptation of the
MMPI-2

• Cheung (1985 1996)
• Consultation between translators and original
  MMPI-2 researchers
• Translation/bilingual equivalence
• Comparison of item endorsement
• Correlation of the translated and original
  measure vs. test-retest reliability

17
Translation/bilingual equivalence of the MMPI-2
18
Content/Factorial Validity of Chinese MMPI-2

• Four factors extracted accounting for
• 76.3 variance among males and
• 76.6 variance among females
• Consistent with the factors obtained in the
  original MMPI and MMPI-2

19
Content/Factorial Validity of Chinese MMPI-2

• Factor 1 Psychoticism factor
• Factor 2 Neuroticism factor
• Factor 3 Social Introversion factor
• Factor 4 Masculinity-Femininity factor

20
Normative Equivalence

• Chinese MMPI-2
• Cross-cultural Differences of the Chinese
  normative sample when US norms used
• Clinical scales Elevations on Scales L, F, FB,
  VRIN, 2 (D) and 8 (Sc)
• Content scales Elevations on DEP and TRT

21
Strategy for translation and adaptation of the
CPAI-2

• English version
• Chinese bilinguals
• Multiple steps of refinements
• Japanese version
• Japanese bilingual psychologist (Sayuri Wada)
• Japanese-English and Japanese-Chinese bilinguals
• Korean version
• Korean bilingual psychologists (English
  Chinese)
• (Kyum Koo Chon Jeung Ryeul Cho)

22
Strategy for translation and adaptation of the
CPAI-2

• Translation and back-translation
• Pilot tests
• Consultation between authors and translators on
  the concept and meaning of the items
• Feedback from researchers and participants on
  problematic items

23
Translation/bilingual equivalence of the CPAI-2
24
CPAI-2 Cross-Cultural Factor Congruence

• Using the 2001 Chinese Normative Sample (N1911)
  as target to extract the 4 CPAI-2 factors using
  cross-cultural student samples
• US US
• PRC Taiwan Korea Japan
  Asian White
• Soc. Potency .94 .97 .98 .97
  .96 .97
• Dependability .91 .95 .96 .96
  .96 .96
• Accommodation .96 .95 .92 .92
  .93 .94
• Interpersonal
• Relatedness .97 .94 .92
  .94 .95 .90
• Total .94 .95 .95
  .95 .95 .95

25
Further Questions

• Validity
• Within culture
• e.g. Is the test able to serve its intended
  function in the new culture?
• Across cultures
• e.g. Is the imported test serving the same
  functions as it did in the original culture?