Social Sciences

All presentations are in English unless otherwise noted.

SOC-1 (S, 1:45pm-2:30pm) - All Levels
Exploring the Impact of Translation in Qualitative and Quantitative Methodologies in Public Health Research
Eileen Franco (Atlanta, Georgia), team member, National Team for the Comprehensive Community Mental Health Services Program for Children with Serious Emotional Disturbances and Their Families; and Brendaly Rodríguez (Atlanta, Georgia), Spanish translator

This session will discuss the impact of translation techniques on the collection, and interpretation, of data in languages other than English in selected quantitative and qualitative public health research methodologies. In particular, we will focus on survey questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and focus groups. Potential threats to validity, reliability, rigor, and trustworthiness of the data will be presented, along with practical solutions taken from "real" research projects. Issues such as the legacy of logical positivism, the concept of the translator/interpreter as a "human instrument," and acculturation will be presented. Participants are encouraged to share experiences, opinions, and recommendations.

SOC-2 (S, 2:30pm-3:15pm) - All Levels
Translating Demographic Surveys
Janet A. Harkness (Mannheim, Germany), head of translation and
translation assessment, European Social Survey Project, The Centre for
Surveys, Methodology, and Analyses (ZUMA)

At first glance, questionnaires look like easy work for translators.
Questionnaire “crafters,” after all, try to write questions so that the intended
meaning is clear. Questionnaires are normally translated in order to collect
information from a new population and the answers provided will be
compared with those collected with another questionnaire in a different
language. This means that translated questionnaires have to be “equivalent”
or “comparable” with their source texts (and each other). This presentation
discusses the major reasons why translating questionnaires is a complicated
and highly specialized undertaking.

SOC-3 (S, 3:30pm-4:15pm) - All Levels
Hispanic/Latinos in Census 2000: Numbers to Count in Business and Public Health
Brendaly Rodríguez (Atlanta, Georgia), Spanish translator
Presenting Languages: Spanish and English

This session will better equip Spanish translators and interpreters to demonstrate the need for their services using Census 2000 data. In essence, the findings describe the booming growth of the Hispanic community. The speaker will discuss: the statistics of the Hispanic population by region and state; a profile of the nation's foreign-born (with particular attention to Spanish-speakers); a statistical brief on Hispanic-owned businesses, and the impact of those numbers in public health.

SOC-4 (S, 4:15pm-5:00pm) - All Levels
Hispanic America: A "Nation" in the United States Whose Voice is Growing
Guillermo Cubillos (Pompano Beach, Florida), lawyer, journalist, and Spanish translator
Presenting Language: Spanish

This presentation will discuss the effects of the Hispanic American immigration on different topics in the United States. The Spanish culture has been present in the United States from its very beginning and is growing along with the immigration. Until recent years, this phenomenon did not receive special attention, but the Hispanic American population is obtaining economic and political importance and the phenomenon is getting noticed.

SOC-5 (S, 4:15pm-5:00pm) - All Levels
Translation/Interpretation, Language Identity, and Policy in the U.S.
Alexander Rainof (Santa Monica, California), associate professor, Romance, German, and Russian Languages and Literatures Department, California State University, Long Beach

Language is an emotional issue. It has ontological as well as sociological components. In the U.S., which is a multilanguage society, the psychological elements of language identity are very important. This has resulted in conflicting government decisions over the last 30 years. There are two dominant trends in this respect¾enhancing the status of minority languages and ensuring English as the sole public language. Translation and interpretation (along with heritage language speakers), professions of vital importance to the U.S., are at the center of this conflict.

SOC-6 (S, 4:15pm-5:00pm) - All Levels
Problems of Translation in the Social and Natural Sciences (Spanish®English)
Andy Klatt (Somerville, Massachusetts), translator and professor of Spanish, English as a Second Language, and Translation

The nonfiction translator is confronted with specific challenges when a text presents contrasting registers (often due to the inclusion of extended quotations for illustration or effect). These challenges, particularly in regards to translation in the social and natural sciences, will be addressed during this presentation. The following will also be discussed: troublesome cognates; techniques in the translation of technical terms by nonspecialists; transparency in the translation of traditional units of measurement; and the utility and implications of nontranslation in the case of culturally important terms, or terms that are more or less meaningful in one of the two languages in question. Finally, there will be some illustrations of "referential localization" by means of intratextual glossing or footnoting when the target audience is inherently less informed on a topic than the original audience.

(Related Sessions: Terminology (TERM-3), An Analysis of Contemporary Terms in U.S. English Referring to the Ethnic Groups and Their Spanish Equivalents)