Back translation
Back Translation Assignment
See syllabus for due date / time and point information
As you can see from Chapter 2, there are many issues that affect the ability to have a truly cross-cultural viewpoint when conducting psychological research. That said, none of the issues matter if translation is a problem. The book (on page 49) mentions several ways to deal with the issue of problematic translation. In the opinion of many cross-cultural researchers, back translation is the best way to ensure a proper translation. The reason this is the case is that, through back translation procedures, we can be somewhat confident that the idea we are trying to convey in one culture (in one language) is the same idea we are conveying to a second culture (in a different language).
To help you understand the difficulties of translation, and to help you understand a bit more about how back translation works, you will complete a set of translations here. Follow the instructions completely to get full credit.
You will be completing this assignment for 3 phrases… 2 that I will give you, and one that you come up with yourself. The two phrases from me come from a personality test called the NEO Five Factor Inventory, which you will be taking later this semester. The phrases are:
1) Sometimes I feel completely worthless.
2) When I’m under a great deal of stress, sometimes I feel like I’m going to pieces.
3) Your choice
***PLEASE read through the assignment completely
BEFORE YOU BEGIN so that you do not have to repeat any steps.***
Step 1: Open a word document so that you can copy and paste into this document. This is not due in APA format, but you should have an APA formatted cover sheet for it.
1) For the cover sheet and subsequent pages, make the text for the Running head be the language you choose (e.g. Running head: POLISH).
2) You will complete a translation and then a back translation for the 3 phrases. You will also do an assessment of the translation. You will need to write the original phrase, the translated phrase in the other language, and then the back translation (in English) for each of the 3 phrases. I would do this for 1 phrase at a time, like this:
Phrase 1:
English: Sometimes I feel completely worthless.
Polish: Czasami czuję się zupełnie bezwartościowe.
Back translation: Sometimes I feel worthless.
Evaluation: I feel that this is /is not the same, because….
Step 2: To achieve the translations, open up Google Translate in your browser. https://translate.google.com/
Your screen will look like this:
Step 3: For the each phrase you will do the following:
1) Type (or copy from the assignment) the phrase into the left box of Google Translate. You can leave it on detect language or you can change the language to English (you will notice the tabs above the box where you can do this).
2) Translate it into any other language you wish. On top of the box on the right, you will see tabs with languages. You will see that there are MANY languages available to you if you click on the down arrow on the right! Choose any language you want, and then you will complete the entire assignment using that one other language.
3) Copy the translation into your word document.
Step 4: Now you have your phrase in another language. SO… now you can complete the back
translation. To do this, follow the following steps:
1) Change the language for the translate box on the left side to the “other language” (so in the example I gave you above, I would change it to Polish).
2) Copy the translated phrase (this is easiest to do if you will highlight the translated phrase, then right click on your mouse).
3) Paste the translated phrase into the box on the left. (So now the box on the left has the other language chosen, and you have copied the translated text into that box).
4) Change the language for the box on the right to English. (So now you have a translation of the other language back into English).
Step 5: Evaluate the results. Based on your reading of the text and the issues with translation, do you feel that the translation back into English conveys the same meaning as the original English phrase? Why or why not? Provide adequate reasoning- yes or no will not be enough support. Really consider the issue at hand. Is the underlying meaning the same?
Step 6: To earn credit, submit your docx file through Blackboard by the due date and time. See Step 1 for guidance as to what the document will look like.
Solution Preview
English: Sometimes I feel completely worthless
French: Parfois, je me sens complètement sans valeur
Back Translation: Sometimes I feel completely worthless
Evaluation: The two statements in both languages can be translated and back translated to mean the same thing. When translation and back translation are similar, it means that communication is effective and that the required information is passed along effectively.
(304 words)