Best practices for multilingual surveys |
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| Coordinator 1 | Mrs Janelle van den Heuvel (Statistics Netherlands) |
| Coordinator 2 | Dr Vera Toepoel (Statistics Netherlands) |
In today's increasingly multicultural societies, a growing number of languages are spoken by potential respondents. Traditionally, most surveys have been distributed solely in the official languages of the country. However, this practice might no longer be sufficient as it excludes a significant portion of the population that does not speak this language. This exclusion results in biased data that does not accurately reflect the views and needs of the entire population. The critical question remains: how can we effectively reach these individuals while keeping those without a migration background engaged?
To tackle this issue, many countries are now distributing surveys in multiple languages. There is still much uncertainty about the best way to implement multilingual surveys though. We have a lot of questions, among others, about the following topics:
• Approaching respondents who do not speak the official language
• Communicating that the survey is available in multiple languages
• Choosing the appropriate modes for multilingual surveys
• Training interviewers to interact with multilingual respondents
• Effective strategies for implementing multilingual surveys
• The future of multilingual surveys
Join us in this session to share your experiences, insights, and solutions. Let us strive towards an inclusive approach to obtain more representative data in our increasing diverse society.