Rating scales: "mostly accurate" vs. "mostly true

I am a psychologist currently working on translating a questionnaire from English into American

I would appreciate some input from my fellow psychologists, as well as any English specialists or linguists out there, regarding the translation of a response scale

The original version uses false, mostly false, neutral, mostly true, true

My translation was incorrect, generally incorrect, neutral, generally correct, correct

An English specialist performed a back-translation (translating my American version back into English)

They rendered it quite elegantly as "incorrect, generally incorrect..."

It just occurred to me that I chose "correct" simply because that is the standard convention we use here in the States

However, I find myself without a substantive argument as to why "correct, generally correct" should be superior to "true, generally true..."

I decided to plug both versions of the scale into Google to see which one yields more hits

The version using "correct" returned about six pages

While the "true" version yielded a single solitary link, and even then, it was just a paper by some English scholars🙂

Now I am left wondering: why shouldn't I just use "true"?

What are your thoughts on this entire situation?

false (fôls)
adj. fals·er, fals·est
1. Not factual or truthful: false tales of bravery........................meaning untruthful, contrary to the facts
2. Purposely untrue: giving false testimony under oath............meaning lying with the intent to deceive
3. Stemming from misconceptions: false hopes of writing a hit novel...............meaning coming from an illusion
4. Meant to mislead: a suitcase with a false bottom; false promises.............intended to trick someone
5. Unreliable or disloyal: a false friend. See Synonyms AT faithless..........someone you can't trust
6. Not authentic or real: false teeth; false documents........................................an imitation of something...not the real thing
7. Set up temporarily, like scaffolding used during building.................................a temporary solution that isn't the permanent one

mostly false....mostly incorrect, untrue, or largely a lie

neutral......neutral....neither wrong nor right

mostly true.........mostly or largely accurate, or generally true

true....accurate, truthful, or original

you can check out some more info here if you're interested

http://www.thefreedictionary.com

all in all, you did a good job with the translation....anyone will be able to get the gist, and every word usually carries more than one meaning...just stick to what's most commonly implied, since the people you're testing will probably just be average folks

I mean, I guess you did a pretty solid job with the translation.🤷

Dear Rebecca Scott3 and gentlesailor25, my thanks to you both.

Yeah, I’ve honestly never come across the term "truthful" being used in these scales—and believe me, I have filled out a massive amount of questionnaires, even putting together 🤷 myself at one point. Even with the English versions, I haven't really run into the word "incorrect," though I'll admit I haven't looked at quite as many of those.
I feel like you could easily translate "false" as "inaccurate"—maybe even adding a little nuance like "inaccurate for me personally"—but then again, that starts to drift a bit from how they actually phrase things in English.

Eric Gray2 said:Yeah, I’ve honestly never come across the term "truthful" being used in these scales—and believe me, I have filled out a massive amount of questionnaires, even putting together 🤷 myself at one point. Even with the English versions, I haven't really run into the word "incorrect," though I'll admit I haven't looked at quite as many of those.
I feel like you could easily translate "false" as "inaccurate"—maybe even adding a little nuance like "inaccurate for me personally"—but then again, that starts to drift a bit from how they actually phrase things in English.

If I recall correctly, those bolded options alongside "true" were pretty common back when I was taking standardized tests. Not that I haven't taken a ton of them over the years...
It’s either "completely inapplicable to me"—mostly inapplicable—or "either applies or doesn't apply"—mostly applies—or "fully applicable." I remember it because trying to memorize which number matched which long, wordy answer was such a headache. I spent half my time flipping through pages just to stay sane... 😁

I’ve never seen anyone use a variation with "truthfully"... it usually translates to "exactly" or "precisely." I don't get why people feel the need to overcomplicate things. At the end of the day, you gotta focus on how people actually talk and the vibe of the language, not some rigid, formal textbook translation.

redharbor9 said:I’ve never seen anyone use a variation with "truthfully"... it usually translates to "exactly" or "precisely." I don't get why people feel the need to overcomplicate things. At the end of the day, you gotta focus on how people actually talk and the vibe of the language, not some rigid, formal textbook translation.

I'm mostly in agreement here.😁

The goal should be to respect the spirit of the language without making it needlessly complex—keep it accessible for the average person.😁

It reminds me of when we use the PIE—the emotion index profile. You practically have to provide a side glossary just to explain the terminology used in the tool; not everyone has an advanced degree or is comfortable with "high-level" vocabulary. If you don't, people end up circling answers at random because they don't understand the prompt, which ultimately makes the data useless.😁

Alright, thanks to everyone else as well!

fadedbadger73: I dealt with Plutchik quite some time ago, if that happens to be the test in question, though I honestly can't recall the specifics of how it was structured.

redgardener58 said:Alright, thanks to everyone else as well!

fadedbadger73: I dealt with Plutchik quite some time ago, if that happens to be the test in question, though I honestly can't recall the specifics of how it was structured.

Yeah, it's Plutchik. The concepts come in pairs, and you have to pick whichever one feels more specific to you in each set...

Man... 🙂 you gotta try explaining something you don't even get yourself, then you read back what you wrote and realize it makes even less sense than before...

redharbor9 said:Man... 🙂 you gotta try explaining something you don't even get yourself, then you read back what you wrote and realize it makes even less sense than before...

Haha, too true... And it gets even better when you're testing a specific niche group... 😁it can get pretty ridiculous.