Is sex lost in translation? Linguistic and conceptual issues in the translation of sexual and reproductive health surveys

Abstract

Translated questionnaires are increasingly used in population health research. Nevertheless, translation is often not conducted with the same rigour as the process of survey development in the original language. This has serious limitations and may introduce bias in question relevance and meaning. This article describes and reflects on the process of translating a large and complex sexual and reproductive health survey from English into Simplified Chinese. We interrogated assumptions embedded in taken-for-granted translation practice to locate the sociocultural origins of these assumptions. We discuss how terminology and expression related to sexual and reproductive health may lose their con..