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Interpreted telephone surveys in Europe

Session: Language, Communication, and Research in the Comparative Context

Authors:

Janet Harkness; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, United States
Ana Villar; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, United States
Yelena Kruse; Knowledge Networks, United States
Laura Branden; Westat, United States
Brad Edwards; Westat, United States
Clarissa Steele; University of Nebraska, Lincoln, United States

Abstract:

The paper reports on findings from an exploratory investigation on interaction in interpreted telephone interviews in Russian and Spanish, using a commercial interpreting firm, Westat interviewers and respondents in Russia and Spain. Control telephone interviews with scripted translations of the questions that were interpreted were conducted by interviewers who were native speakers of Russian and Spanish. We focus our report on data from the interpreted interviews and on issues of burden, negotiation (interview metatalk) and of interpreting challenges found in the interviews. The research provides insight into the process and products of interpreted standardized interviews, the roles of participants and the various challenges that arise and may enable us to prepare better for conducting interpreted interviews when no other option is available.