Translation, adaptation and validation process of research instruments

Abstract

The process of translating, adapting and validating research instruments or scales is crucial for international research projects, as it will facilitate safe comparisons. Versions of research instruments or scales in different languages need to be reliable and valid but also have semantic equivalence between them. This is very important since diversity among people worldwide exists. It is particularly important for nursing research due to the different definitions widely given for the same concept. This chapter focusses on the most common methodological approaches that can be used by researchers who want to translate, adapt and validate a research instrument or scale into a different language.