Translation East & West

1. Translation East & West Fanny M. Cheung Department of Psychology The Chinese University of Hong Kong Symposium on Test Translation ICP 2004, Beijing fmcheung@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 equivalenceof 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 equivalenceof 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 equivalenceof 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 (N=1911) as target to extract the 4 CPAI-2 factors using cross-cultural student samples USUS PRCTaiwanKoreaJapanAsian 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?