Surveys in Non-English Languages

Surveys in Non-English Languages

SSI Web may be used for developing surveys in languages other than English (such as Spanish, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc.).

Using the XML .XLF/XLIFF Format Import/Export

The most efficient way to develop surveys in multiple languages is to first program the entire survey (including all skip patterns, etc.) within SSI Web in the source language (for this explanation, we'll assume English). Then, using File | Translation | Export Text for Translation... export all the English text of the survey to an XML .xlf/XLIFF file format. Translation houses commonly use software tools that support this format. The XLIFF file includes each text string twice: once in the source language, and a second time for the translated version of that text. For example, the translation house initially sees the following information within the .xlf file:

   <source language> Don't eat at Pepe's house
   <target language> "Needs-Translation"

Using their software tools, the translation house translates the target language text. The .xlf file they return to you might include:

   <source language> Don't eat at Pepe's house
   <target language> No comes en la casa de Pepe

Use File | Save As to create a copy of your existing English (source language) project, giving the new SSI Web project a new name such as "mystudy_spanish." You would open the mystudy_spanish study, and using File | Translation | Import Translated Text..., bring all the translated text into your new Spanish study. All of the <target language> phrases found in the .xlf file overwrite the existing English phrases. A backup of your survey (prior to importing and overwriting the text) is saved in your project's Recovery folder.

This results in a separate, parallel study for each language. But, the variable names are identical across different versions of the questionnaire. So, the data files (dat.dat) could be appended and exported in a single step (from the base tongue study), if desired.

Create the XLIFF File

When you select File | Translation | Export Text for Translation... the following is displayed:

A separate .XLF file must be created for each Target Language you wish to translate the questionnaire into. In the example above, we are translating from English (Source Language) into Spanish (Target Language).

Each language is identified by either a two-character or three-character code ("en" for English, etc.). These codes are called the ISO 639-1 or ISO 639-2 codes. These standardized codes are required by many programs that operate on the .XLF file, so they can perform some automated processes.

If the language you are using is not identified in the list above, you should visit: http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php to find the appropriate code. Type the codes directly into the text box interface above.

Directly Typing or Copy-Pasting Text into SSI Web

We assume that you have the ability to enter the survey text (using a keyboard or other input device) or that you have the translated text in a Word document, or some other program that displays the text correctly (the characters display as they are intended to be shown in the survey).

When authoring surveys in SSI Web, you should ensure that the characters appearing in the input boxes in SSI Web's interface are the characters that respondents should see. (They may not be formatted with the correct size, color, or font, but they should be the correct character. If you see a "?", a box character, or just the wrong character(s), then the respondents are most likely not going to see the correct character either.) SSI Web uses a Unicode representation of the characters, and the STUDYNAMEqst.cgi file uses UTF-8 Unicode character encoding. You do not need to do anything additional to make SSI Web display your text correctly. Do NOT add a <META> tag specifying the character set. (SSI Web automatically includes a <META> tag indicating that the UTF-8 character set is being used.)

SSI Web supports double-byte characters in file names for graphics and also in files you name during export.

If you use Excel to open a .txt or .csv file that you have exported that contains double-byte characters, you should first open Excel, and then open the file using File | Open. This brings up a import wizard where you can specify to use Unicode encoding. You should have Excel 2003 or later to open files properly containing UTF-8 Unicode encoded characters.

Many languages work without any special considerations (such as Spanish, German, French, etc.). Just enter the characters or copy and paste them into SSI Web, and they will appear correctly. If the characters do not appear correctly, then try the procedures outlined below.

Test your survey carefully. Be careful to check the survey in Preview mode against your original Word document to ensure that the displayed text is correct. Be sure to test your survey on multiple browser types and using older versions of browsers since they all display HTML slightly different.

Before You Begin

First Steps

A. Add Windows support for the language in which you'll be working.

a. Windows XP Users:

Click Start + Control Panel + Regional and Language Options.

Under the Languages tab, check the two boxes for Install files for complex script and right-to-left languages (including Thai) and Install files for East Asian languages.

Restart your computer when prompted. You may also be asked to provide your Windows installation disks. You may need to have administrative rights to make these changes.

b. Windows Vista Users (Ultimate or Enterprise Only):

Click Start + Settings + Control Panel + Clock, Language and Region + Regional and Language Options

Go to the Keyboard and Languages tab. Under Display Language, click Install/uninstall languages, and then follow the steps. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

B. (This step is for users who will be copying from Microsoft Office into SSI Web.) If it is not already installed, add language support in Microsoft Office for the languages you'll be using. This may require you to download additional components from the Microsoft website. Click Start + Control Panel + Add or Remove Programs. Click Microsoft Office and click Change. When the setup dialog appears, select Add or Remove Features and then Next >. Select Office Shared Features – International Support and make sure that all font support is installed.