I have collected data in English language during empirical phase of the study using audio recorder, however some of the participants used their ethnic language to respond to some of the questions i asked. I could understand the meaning of their responses. Which implication does that have to the study...is it just a limitation or needs a professional translator?
It may be, so it must have a well defined criteria in the definition of the subjects of the research
Dear Hector,
It is a good thing that you allowed the participants to respond to some of the questions in their native language. But this leaves me to think that the respondents would have preferred to be interviewed in their native language, a language that with extensive vocabulary and mastery, would allow them to express themselves much better.
With regard to your question, I think it would be beneficial to have a professional translator to do the translating although you understand the native language. If you translate, the tendency would be that you could translate an ambigious translation to suite your objectives while a professional translator would look at it more objectively. You can play the role of checking that the translations are in line with the context. Having a professional translator allows for consistency. You should ensure that all the transcripts requiring translation should go to the translator and not a selected few.
I think you have to conduct member checking to ensure that your participants understood and responded to your questions appropriately.
Hope this helps
Hello Hector, this is a very nice question. There are different dimensions to the question: what are you trying to answer with the data? If you are not examining the proficiency of the participants, then code-switching should not be a problem. If your concerns deal with the content/substance of their answer to your question (such as: Do you prefer A to B? And the answer is I prefer A, but said in tongue, then understanding the choice has nothing to do with the language of expression). In other words, you could just a good native speaker in that language to help with translation and in your method section you clearly state this. I will not state it as limitation if it does not directly reduce the ability of the experiment to clearly anwer the question.
Hi Hector,
It is important for your research interviews to be conducted in participants language in order for them to better articulate what they have in mind.
But now that the interviews are already conducted, you can try to accurately translate what was said by the participants, it shouldn't be a problem.
Dear Hector
Well done with allowing your participants to respond in their mother tongue. I would suggest verbatim transcription, translation by you as the researcher, separate translation by a professional translator, comparison of your translation with that of the professional translator to retain meaning but also use the correct words in English, then a final transcription of those sections you translated before member checking.
good luck!
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