IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socpsy/v58y2012i1p34-40.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Lost in interpretation: The use of interpreters in research on mental ill health

Author

Listed:
  • Karin Ingvarsdotter
  • Sara Johnsdotter
  • Margareta Östman

Abstract

Background : The literature concerning interpretation in research primarily concentrates on rigorous techniques to eliminate bias. This article analyses other significant issues that arise when interpreters participate in research. Material : Empirical examples are drawn from a research project concerning mental ill health in a multicultural neighbourhood. Discussion : Interpreters influence interview data in ways commonly unnoticed by researchers. One often-overlooked factor is that languages are dynamic and interpreters are not instruments. Conclusion : Research conducted with an interpreter is a complex undertaking. Solely relying on checklists to improve methodological rigour can result in a false sense of the material’s validity.

Suggested Citation

  • Karin Ingvarsdotter & Sara Johnsdotter & Margareta Östman, 2012. "Lost in interpretation: The use of interpreters in research on mental ill health," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 58(1), pages 34-40, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:58:y:2012:i:1:p:34-40
    DOI: 10.1177/0020764010382693
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0020764010382693
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0020764010382693?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elin Ekström & Ann-Christine Andersson & Ulrika Börjesson, 2022. "“I’ve Got Many Stories You Know”—Problematizing Silence Among Unaccompanied Migrant Girls," Journal of International Migration and Integration, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 797-814, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socpsy:v:58:y:2012:i:1:p:34-40. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.