The translator’s perspective on translation quality control processes for international large-scale assessment studies

Abstract

International Large-Scale Assessment studies (iLSAs) like PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) and PIAAC (the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) employ stringent quality control procedures for the translation of their test items. The translations are crucial: a test item should not become more or less difficult because of its translation, given that test results are used to assess and compare the competency levels of different populations across countries. This article discusses how PISA and PIAAC translation procedures have evolved from earlier translation quality processes, and the underlying assumptions about translation that have shaped this evolution. We then report on findings from a qualitative interview study with translators, reviewers, and translation managers who have been involved in PISA or PIAAC translation processes. The objective of the interview study is to analyse the quality control procedures from the perspective of translation players. How do translators prepare for and perform translations for iLSA studies, and how does this process compare with other translation assignments they receive? This comparison will give an understanding of whether translators, in general, believe the iLSA translation process and its quality control procedures provide adequate guidance for performing these translations. We finish by proposing recommendations for future iLSA translation processes.

Reliability and validity of the Autism Screen for Kids and Youth

“…The translator, who is also fluent in Hebrew, translated from English into Arabic with reference to the Hebrew translation and in close consultation with the first author. Back translation, which has many drawbacks (Behr, 2017; Ozolins et al, 2020) and is considered obsolete for quality control purposes (Son, 2018; Upsing & Rittberger, 2018), was not utilized.…”

“…For example, social (pragmatic) communication disorder (SCD) has significant symptom overlap with ASD (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and the social and adaptation difficulties associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are similar to those seen in ASD, which poses considerable challenges to their differential diagnosis (Salley et al, 2015). Diagnostic confusion and substantial levels of dual diagnosis are also found for ASD and anxiety (van Steensel et al, 2011(van Steensel et al, , 2013, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD; Arildskov et al, 2016;Griffiths et al, 2017), and Tourette's disorder (Darrow et al, 2017;Kern et al, 2015). Similarly, ASD and anorexia nervosa share underlying difficulties in cognitive, social, and emotional functioning (Westwood & Tchanturia, 2017).…”

A meeting report: OECD-GESIS Seminar on Translating and Adapting Instruments in Large-Scale Assessments (2018)

“…The second talk by Brita Upsing (2018) provided the first-of-its-kind assessment of how different translation players actually perceive translation guidelines and the frameworks set by international large-scale assessment studies, such as PIAAC and PISA (see also Upsing & Rittberger, 2018). For this, she analyzed translation guidelines from the first round of PIAAC and also qualitative data from 20 interviews with translators, verifiers, and project managers.…”

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Synthetic Drug Dependence Scale in a Chinese Sample

“…Thirdly, compared with interview instruments, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and the Addiction Severity Index, the OASI only has 12 items and is thus more convenient to perform population-based assessments with a lower time cost (Baggio et al, 2020 ; Yerima et al, 2020 ), which is conducive to establish prevalence rates at the population level. Furthermore, as a Chinese localized scale, the content of the scale better fits with the Chinese social and cultural background (Lian and Liu, 2003 , 2004 ) and containing natural and intelligible item wording without distorting part of the information during translation (Upsing and Rittberger, 2018 ), thus the scale will be more suitable for Chinese drug abusers and will produce more authentic information compared with directly applying western models (West et al, 2019 ).…”