ESS6 – Verification Instructions for National Coordinators1
In Round 6, as in ESS5, all translated versions of the ESS6 Source Questionnaire
will be subject to translation verification by cApStAn2.
This document highlights specific information on the role of the National Coordinator
in the translation verification process for ESS Round 6. Further detailed information
can be found in the ESS Round 6 (T)VFF Vademecum to be downloaded from the
ESS Round 6 Intranet.
I.
Translation verification steps to be followed in ESS6
National teams are asked to follow the steps below for translation verification (as
described in the ESS Round 6 Translation Guidelines):
1.1
Please inform the ESS translation team at GESIS ([email protected])
and cApStAn ([email protected]) – at least three weeks in advance – of
the date you plan to submit your national translation(s) to cApStAn; this
information should be provided by email to the ESS translation team and to
cApStAn.
1.2
Please inform the ESS translation team at GESIS ([email protected])
and cApStAn ([email protected]) whether the translation(s) will be
submitted for verification in the “Round 6 (Translation and) Verification FollowUp Form - (T)VFF” or as a MS Word file3.
1.3
Carry out Translation and Review (‘T’ and ‘R’ of the ‘TRAPD’ method) within
your national team.
1.4
If applicable, reconcile your national translation(s) with all other countries
sharing the same language.
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This document is to be followed in addition to the ESS Round 6 Translation Guidelines released in
March 2012 and to the ESS Round 6 (T)VFF Vademecum which will explain the use of the R6(T)VFF
more in detail.
This document was written for the European Social Survey (ESS). The Core Scientific Team of the
ESS requests that you use the following form of words to cite this document:
Dorer, B., Widdop, S., Gatrell, L. & Wäyrynen, L. (2012) ESS6 – Verification Instructions for National
Coordinators. Mannheim, European Social Survey, GESIS.
2
cApStAn is an external provider, specialising in developing linguistic quality assurance and linguistic
quality control systems for use in multilingual, multinational and multicultural surveys. It has been involved
in many other important international surveys since 2000, amongst others PIRLS, TIMSS, PISA, PIAAC
and SHARE. The first verification of ESS translations of the source questionnaire by cApStAn was carried
out in Round 5. Further information on cApStAn can be found at www.capstan.be
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In exceptional cases, pdf files can also be submitted. If you plan to submit a PDF, please discuss this
with the ESS translation team in advance.
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1.5
Carry out Adjudication (the ‘A’ in the ‘TRAPD' method) within your national
team for finalising your national version(s) to be submitted to cApStAn.
1.6
Submit your translation(s) to cApStAn for verification: please send your
translation(s) via email to the ESS translation team at GESIS
([email protected]) and to cApStAn (Laura Wäyrynen will be the ESS
Project Manager at cApStAn) ([email protected]).
1.7
Please set aside about 3 weeks for the entire translation verification process to
be carried out by cApStAn. This should cover the period required for the entire
process, from submission of your translation(s) to cApStAn until receiving back
the verification results from cApStAn.
1.8
When receiving the verification comments from cApStAn, please be sure to go
through all the interventions carefully! When doing so, please keep the
following in mind:
When you incorporate the comments or corrections made by the verifiers,
please make sure you are consistent for all the items translated for
Round 6. For instance, if you change one word or term in one instance,
please make sure to change it accordingly in other places in the new items
too. As not all new items of the ESS6 questionnaire are subject to verification,
it may be that a verification comment is only made in one item (subject to
verification) but needs to be implemented in other new items (not subject to
verification) too.
However, existing translations, that is, translations of the core modules or
repeated items from the ‘Well-being’ module, should NOT be changed, even if
this would be consistent with verification comments from Round 6. Here it is
more important to keep the time series than to be consistent within your
translated questionnaire. In case of doubt, please consult the ESS translation
team at GESIS ([email protected]).
1.9
The ‘post-verification’ version of your translation(s) will be the basis for the
SQP Coding.
1.10 When you receive back the comments from SQP Coding, please make sure to
follow-up carefully on these comments before finalising your national version.
If the findings from the SQP Coding mean you need to make further changes
to your already verified translation or in case you would like to discuss these,
please refer to the ESS Translation Team at GESIS, to cApStAn or, if
applicable, to the countries sharing your language.
1.11 The version finalised after the SQP Coding should then be pre-tested.
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II.
Submission of translation for verification
In Round 6, the national teams can choose if they want to (a) submit their
translations in the R6(T)VFF, that is, a translation excel template4; or (b) submit their
national translation(s) in the form of a MS Word file. Figure 1 shows the Round 6
verification process for both options:
4
The R6(T)VFF is an excel template, prepared jointly by cApStAn and the ESS translation team and is
downloadable from the ESS Intranet
3
Figure 1: Round 6 verification process
OPTION 1
NC translates directly into the red
sheets of the (T)VFF.
For core items, translations should be
identical to those in Round 5 (though
question numbers may have changed)
NC submits (T)VFF to cApStAn
for verification
cApStAn adds green
worksheets to (T)VFF,
containing relevant items
selected for verification.
For core items, translations should be
identical to those in Round 5 (though question
numbers may have changed)
NC submits a Word
document to cApStAn
for verification
NC also uses the red
sheets of the (T)VFF to
document additional
information or
comments if required.
This is also submitted
to cApStAn.
cApStAn make any suggested changes
directly into the Word document, using
track changes function.
cApStAn uses green worksheets in
(T)VFF to apply intervention
categories, prioritise interventions and
add any comments.
cApStAn sends (T)VFF
containing all verification
feedback to NC.
NC considers each verifier
intervention
NC accepts
intervention
and changes
translation
(documented in
(T)VFF).
OPTION 2
NC translates into Word document(s).
NC rejects
intervention and
documents in
(T)VFF,
providing
justification for
rejection of ‘key’
interventions.
NC sends (T)VFF to
[email protected] AND
to [email protected]
cApStAn also use the (T)VFF to apply
intervention categories, prioritise
interventions and add any comments.
cApStAn sends edited Word document
and (T)VFF containing all verification
feedback to NC.
NC considers each verifier intervention in
both files (Word and (T)VFF)
NC accepts
intervention
and accepts
change
(documented in
(T)VFF).
NC rejects
intervention and
documents in
(T)VFF, providing
justification for
rejection of ‘key’
interventions.
NC sends updated Word document and
(T)VFF to [email protected]
AND to [email protected]
SQP coding (please refer to separate guidelines
available from the R6 Intranet pages).
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(a) OPTION 1: Submission of national translations in the Round 6
(Translation and) Verification Follow-Up Form – R6(T)VFF
The national teams submit their translations using the R6(T)VFF. This approach
would be similar to the one applied in R5 and would be particularly helpful for those
countries working with translation templates for their entire internal translation
process.
More detailed information on the R6(T)VFF can be found in the ESS Round 6
(T)VFF Vademecum provided by cApStAn!
The R6(T)VFF is downloadable from the ESS Intranet. When you download it from
the ESS Intranet, you will see that all sections of the ESS6 source questionnaire
have been copied into the file, each section corresponding to one worksheet. These
worksheets – marked in red – are to be used for your translation. In addition to
the English ESS 6 Source Questionnaire, these worksheets include different columns
specifically designed to allow documentation of the entire ESS6 translation history of
each national version (comparable to the columns used in ESS5).
Once your translation is ready to be sent to cApStAn for verification, please submit
this R6(T)VFF file. The translation to be verified must be included in the column
called ‘VERSION AFTER ADJUDICATION /FOR VERIFICATION’.
When receiving back the verification results from cApStAn, your R6(T)VFF will
include two additional worksheets – marked in green – containing the verifiers’
comments.
Please use the R6(T)VFF for documenting the entire history of your
translation(s) of the ESS6 questionnaire.
(b) OPTION 2: Submission of national translations in MS Word files
In Round 6, national teams can send their translation(s) to cApStAn in MS Word
format. The translated questionnaire will thus have the form of a ‘running text’ and
not of a template.
In addition, please add comments about any agreed adaptations or other translation
issues that you wish to bring to the verifier’s attention, in the R6(T)VFF, column
’COMMENTS AFTER ADJUDICATION’. The R6(T)VFF is available on the ESS
Intranet.
Once your translation is ready to be sent to cApStAn for verification, please submit
your MS Word file (mandatory), as well as the (T)VFF (if you have inserted
comments for the verifier’s attention) to cApStAn.
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When receiving back the verification results from cApStAn, you will RECEIVE TWO
FILES: the MS Word file with the verifier’s comments made in track change mode. In
addition, you will be sent a R6(T)VFF by cApStAn (even if you did not submit this
format) where all the verification intervention categories have been applied and
comments are explained more in detail (in the green sheets).
Make sure you carefully check through BOTH documents: if there is e.g. a minor,
recurring punctuation issue, it will be corrected systematically in track changes in the
Word file but may elicit only a single generic comment in the R6(T)VFF. However, all
significant verifier interventions will be documented in the R6(T)VFF.
Please continue DOCUMENTING YOUR R6 TRANSLATION HISTORY IN THIS
R6(T)VFF.
More detailed information on the R6(T)VFF can be found in the ESS Round 6
(T)VFF Vademecum provided by cApStAn!
III.
BOTH OPTIONS: Verifier Intervention Categories and Severity Codes
ALL countries will receive a R6(T)VFF annotated with the verifier’s findings
from cApStAn.
3.1
In this R6(T)VFF, in the GREEN worksheets (that is, those containing the
verification results), in addition to their comments, verifiers choose in each line of the
excel template, a ‘VERIFIER INTERVENTION CATEGORY’ (in the column bearing
that name). By attributing each intervention to a specific category, cApStAn verifiers
help to better understand the nature of their comments. These Verifier Intervention
Categories are explained more in detail in the ESS Round 6 (T)VFF Vademecum.
3.2
Besides this, in the column named ‘FOLLOW-UP’, the verifiers classify their
interventions using two SEVERITY CODES. The use of these two codes is explained
below – and is also further covered in the ESS Round 6 (T)VFF Vademecum.
‘Minor Correction’: here the National Coordinator can decide on his/her own if the
intervention should be implemented or not.
‘Key Correction’: cApStAn and GESIS (in consultation with City University if
necessary) will categorize those verifier interventions as ‘key’ that can potentially
have an impact on how the questionnaire item works. For all interventions labeled as
‘Key Corrections’, NCs will be required to add ‘OK’ in the ‘Country comment’ column
(to confirm that they accept the change) or provide a justification if they disagree with
the change.
The updated (T)VFF will then need to be sent back to GESIS/cApStAn.
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IV.
Parts of the ESS6 Source Questionnaire subject to translation
verification
The exact choice of items to be verified can be found in the document ‘Items selected
for verification’, which will be available to download from the ESS Intranet.
For any queries regarding translation verification, please refer to the ESS translation
team at GESIS ([email protected]) or to cApStAn ([email protected]).
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