Survey Methodology #2003-17 - The American Community Survey (Acs) En Espanol: Using Cognitive Interviews To Test The Functional Equivalency Of Questionnaire Translations - U.s. Bureau Of The Census Page 21
ADVERTISEMENT
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52because it looks and sounds like the English word “college,” it is a false cognate (i.e., it may be
easily but erroneously confused with college). Avoiding these types of words should help
increase the accuracy of responses.
Design Issue #2: Question-Order Effects
A challenging issue may rise in target-language questionnaires as a result of the order in which
questions are asked. Question order effects may or may not reveal the same patterns for both the
target and source language. For example, both the English and Spanish questionnaires ask
whether the respondent received money from different types of income sources. The question
“Last week, did you do any work for either pay or profit?” uses the word lucro in Spanish to
convey the concept of “profit.” Although this is an acceptable and perhaps the most accurate
way of translating “profit,” Spanish speakers tend to ascribe a negative connotation to the term.
Rather than interpreting the term as any other work that resulted in earnings, 42% of the 35
respondents thought the question was asking about money that was earned by cheating, taking
advantage of someone, gambling, or committing some type of fraud or illegal act.
Design Issue #3: Automation
Automated instruments display text that is hard coded (i.e., text that never changes) and text that
is soft coded (i.e., words that change depending on the context of a question). Words that change
are called “fills,” and grammar rules define the logic or rules for wording changes (e.g., adding
or omitting helping verbs, tense agreements, possessive pronoun agreements, etc.). Applying
English logic to Spanish fills results in text that is difficult to read and understand. For example,
the Spanish language requires defining fills based on different logic from that of English fills.
To illustrate this point, the common English fill <your/his/her> is based on 1) whether the
15
ADVERTISEMENT
0 votes
Related Articles
Related forms
Survey Methodology #2006-02 - Use Of Dependent Interviewing Procedures To Improve Data Quality In The Measurement Of Change - U.s. Census Bureau
Legal
Survey Methodology #2012-02 - New Relationship And Marital Questions: A Reflection Of Changes To The Social And Legal Recognition Of Same-sex Couples In The U.s. - U.s. Census Bureau
Legal
Related Categories
Parent category: Legal