From meaning to meaning: The influence of translation techniques on non-English focus group research

Language translation techniques are at the core of many cross-cultural qual itative research projects. The purpose of this article is to examine the im pact of translation techniques on the collection and interpretation of non- English to English qualitative data and, in particular on focus-group data collection and analysis. The goal is to offer suggestions that will minimiz e potential threats to validity. This article includes a working definition of translation, a discussion of issues related to translation in quantitat ive research, a discussion of how translation issues differ in focus group research, evaluation criteria for translators and interpreters, and an exam ple of translation techniques used in a research study of perimenopausal Hi spanic women.