Cross-national and cross-cultural surveys are increasingly being set up in social science research as they allow testing for the generality of hypotheses across cultures and allow the inclusion of all members of the target population. When dealing with cross-national or cross-cultural instead of national data, additional methodological challenges and sources of bias must be taken into account as respondents come from different contexts and cultures, and speak different languages. This adds an “additional layer of complexity” to the development and analysis of such surveys.

This workshop focuses on what it means to develop, evaluate, and translate questionnaires for use in cross-national or cross-cultural research. The workshop will introduce a) the notion of measurement in comparative research; b) crucial steps in the development of the source questionnaire, such as the involvement of cultural experts, the use of cross-cultural cognitive interviewing methods, of SQP (Survey Quality Predictor), and of translatability assessments. Furthermore, it will c) introduce best practice approaches to questionnaire translation and assessment, such as TRAPD (Translation, Review, Adjudication, Pretesting, and Documentation), while also presenting modified frameworks or aspects to consider when actually translating. The course will be a mixture of lectures, short practical exercises, and discussions. The course is suited for beginners.

Please note that this course does not include statistical procedures to test for measurement equivalence.