Besides the procedures in adapting a psychological scale, are there any prohibitions or limitations in adapting a scale into another language and culture?
Hi colleague Fanny Amalia
Firstly, it is important to take scale consent from the author of original work. Then ofcourse, you begin with pilot testing to see how items perform.
Not quite a limitation yet the hindrance include cultural sensitivity to how population responds to the items responded to.
The major challenge is to get expert translations who ideally have a doctoral degree in the target language and of course, in the language that scale is in.
The more robust the translation, the model will fit.
Regards,
Fanny Amalia, I refer to this as a problem of measurement disjuncture (Sul, 2019). That is, the misalignment that results when aspects of one cultural worldview are superimposed onto another culture in the instrument development process. The result is increased measurement error and, ultimately, a diminishment in the validity of the results.
My work is in the development of culturally specific assessments (Sul, 2019; Sul, 2021) to address the problem of measurement disjuncture. It begins with a reflection on what is important to measure from the perspective of those who most closely experience the phenomenon. It requires additional work to build these instruments but they are intended to produce more accurate results.
While adapting a psychological scale into another language and culture, it's crucial to be aware of certain prohibitions and limitations:
By being mindful of these prohibitions and limitations, researchers can contribute to the development of culturally valid and reliable psychological scales. Adapting scales with careful consideration helps ensure that research findings are applicable and meaningful across diverse cultural settings.