What is the best practice for implementing a country tool survey in a local language?
The best way to maintain the accuracy of the assessment tools during translation is to ensure that the translation is as similar to the original version as possible. As described in the Tool Implementation Manual, the best way to accomplish this is to translate the tool into the desired language, and then translate it back into English. This process is an excellent way to ensure that meaning is not lost in the translation process. Translation is best accomplished before any interviewing from the final sample of clients begins; pre-testing of the questionnaire and implementation process on a small sample of clients is recommended. It would compromise the accuracy of the assessment tools to simply translate the English versions of the tools “on the spot” during an interview with a client, for any language or dialect.
