Applied Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Executive Plaza North MSC 7344, Bethesda MD 20892-7344, USA.
BMC Public Health. 2010 Aug 13;10:481. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-481.
We ascertained the degree to which language (English versus Spanish), and residence time in the US influence responses to survey questions concerning two topics: self-reported acculturation status, and recent physical activity (PA). This topic is likely to be of general interest because of growing numbers of immigrants in countries worldwide.
We carried out qualitative (cognitive) interviews of survey items on acculturation and physical activity on 27 Latino subjects from three groups: (a) In Spanish, of those of low residence time (less than five years living in the U.S.) (n = 9); (b) In Spanish, of those of high residence time (15 or more years in the U.S) (n = 9); and (c) in English, of those of high residence time (n = 9).
There were very few language translation problems; general question design defects and socio-cultural challenges to survey responses were more common. Problems were found for both acculturation and PA questions, with distinct problem types for the two question areas. Residence time/language group was weakly associated with overall frequency of problems observed: low residence time/Spanish (86%), high residence time/Spanish (67%), and English speaking groups (62%).
Standardized survey questions related to acculturation and physical activity present somewhat different cognitive challenges. For PA related questions, problems with such questions were similar regardless of subject residence time or language preference. For acculturation related questions, residence time/language or education level influenced responses to such questions. These observations should help in the interpretation of survey results for culturally diverse populations.
本研究旨在确定语言（英语与西班牙语）和在美国的居住时间长短对有关两个主题的调查问题的回答的影响程度：自我报告的文化适应状况和近期身体活动（PA）。由于世界范围内移民人数的增加，这个话题可能具有普遍意义。
我们对来自三个群体的 27 名拉丁裔受试者进行了关于文化适应和身体活动的调查项目的定性（认知）访谈：（a）用西班牙语，居住时间短（在美国生活不到五年）（n=9）；（b）用西班牙语，居住时间长（在美国生活 15 年或以上）（n=9）；（c）用英语，居住时间长（n=9）。
几乎没有语言翻译问题；常见的问题是设计缺陷和社会文化对调查回答的挑战。在文化适应和 PA 问题上都发现了问题，这两个问题领域有不同的问题类型。居住时间/语言群体与观察到的总体问题频率弱相关：居住时间短/西班牙语（86%），居住时间长/西班牙语（67%），和英语组（62%）。
与文化适应和身体活动相关的标准化调查问题提出了一些不同的认知挑战。对于与 PA 相关的问题，无论受试者的居住时间或语言偏好如何，此类问题都存在类似的问题。对于与文化适应相关的问题，居住时间/语言或教育水平影响对这些问题的回答。这些观察结果有助于解释不同文化背景人群的调查结果。
