Survey Translation Checklist
5 tips for successful market research translations

Here are a few suggestions we have put together to help make your next multilingual market research project a success.
1) Plan ahead
Although we are pretty much able to start right away, it is useful to give us a few days advance notice so that we can plan the project, check which translators are available and clarify any questions. That will enable us to get started without delay once the content is ready for translation.

2) Define target audience
In addition to the language we also need to know the geographic area you are targeting. For example, Spanish used in Spain is different from Spanish used in Mexico. We'll then assign translators from exactly those countries to make sure the nuances conform to local standards. Also it is useful to know if the survey is targeting a certain demographic, for example a general audience, business professionals or health care professionals. The translators will consider this in their writing style and how they dress the audience.
3) Write for clarity
Clarity is essential in market research, particularly if multiple languages are involved. Any ambiguity risks making the translation less accurate, which may result in the foreign audience understanding the question or statement differently than the source language audience. The worst-case scenario is that you won't be able to compare your survey results accurately across different language groups. Therefore, we recommend concise language, reasonably short sentences and a straightforward writing style.
4) Provide glossaries and reference material
The better the translators understand the context, the more effectively they can do their work. If a survey is for a certain client and that client has content on their website, the translators can make sure to use the same terminology in their translations, for example when translating product features, names or technical terms. If any glossaries or style guides are available that is also very helpful.

5) Be mindful when using placeholders
When programming online questionnaires it can be very practical to use placeholders (or programming tags) in order to pipe in words based on certain conditions. For example, when a survey responded has selected their favourite car brand from a list of brands, the next questions might be "Why did you select [BRAND] as your favourite?". The survey respondent will then see the name of the brand where the placeholder [BRAND] is positioned in the sentence, for example, "Why did you select Toyota as your favourite?" While this approach works well in English and many other languages, it can get complicated in others. For example, a noun might be male or female, and as a result, other words in the sentence change their endings. There are a lot of potential grammatical pitfalls. So while we do not advise against using placeholders (they can be very practical) we suggest not to create too much complexity. In some cases, it is much better to spell out alternative options in full sentences.