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Frameworks and references

Equivalence implements established cross-cultural adaptation frameworks and is built so its outputs align with current reporting standards. Below are the methodologies it supports and the full literature they draw on.

Aligned with the TARES reporting standard

Iliescu et al., 2024

The Test Adaptation Reporting Standards (TARES) set out how a transparent, reproducible adaptation should be reported. Equivalence’s translation and adaptation procedures are built to align with that standard: every project produces the documentation needed to report the following elements.

  • 2gCoverage of the adaptation: which items were adapted, added, or omitted, with rationale
  • 3aTranslators: number and credentials
  • 3bTranslation design and process: forward translation, reconciliation, and back-translation
  • 3cSuitability of instructions, item content, and formats across languages
  • 4aDocumentation of any changes to the test stimuli
  • 4bDocumentation of any changes to instructions and scoring
  • 4fTesting conditions and mode of administration
  • 5aSample sizes for the expert panel and the debriefing sample
  • 5cSample composition: reviewer and participant profiles
  • 6cItem equivalence: judgmental evidence from expert review and debriefing
  • 8Content validity evidence at item and scale level (content validity index, CVI)

Elements that belong to your downstream validation study — reliability, norming, and the quantitative equivalence analyses — are reported from that study’s own data, and pick up naturally where the adaptation workflow leaves off.

Core frameworks & guidelines

The foundational guidelines Equivalence operationalizes into guided, gated stages.

  • Beaton, D. E., Bombardier, C., Guillemin, F., & Ferraz, M. B. (2000). Guidelines for the process of cross-cultural adaptation of self-report measures. Spine, 25(24), 3186–3191. doi:10.1097/00007632-200012150-00014
  • Guillemin, F., Bombardier, C., & Beaton, D. (1993). Cross-cultural adaptation of health-related quality of life measures: Literature review and proposed guidelines. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 46(12), 1417–1432. doi:10.1016/0895-4356(93)90142-N
  • Wild, D., Grove, A., Martin, M., Eremenco, S., McElroy, S., Verjee-Lorenz, A., & Erikson, P. (2005). Principles of good practice for the translation and cultural adaptation process for patient-reported outcomes (PRO) measures: Report of the ISPOR Task Force for Translation and Cultural Adaptation. Value in Health, 8(2), 94–104. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4733.2005.04054.x
  • International Test Commission. (2018). ITC guidelines for translating and adapting tests (Second edition). International Journal of Testing, 18(2), 101–134. doi:10.1080/15305058.2017.1398166

TRAPD method

  • Bahr, D., Hanke, K., & Braun, M. (2023). The TRAPD approach as a method for questionnaire translation. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, Article 1199989. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1199989
  • Harkness, J. A. (2003). Questionnaire translation. In J. A. Harkness, F. J. R. van de Vijver, & P. P. Mohler (Eds.), Cross-cultural survey methods (pp. 35–56). Wiley.

Dual-panel / McKenna method

  • McKenna, S. P., & Doward, L. C. (2005). The translation and cultural adaptation of patient-reported outcome measures. Value in Health, 8(2), 89–91. doi:10.1111/j.1524-4733.2005.08203.x

Equivalence framework (universalist approach)

  • Herdman, M., Fox-Rushby, J., & Badia, X. (1998). A model of equivalence in the cultural adaptation of HRQoL instruments: The universalist approach. Quality of Life Research, 7(4), 323–335. doi:10.1023/A:1024985930536
  • Herdman, M., Fox-Rushby, J., & Badia, X. (1997). “Equivalence” and the translation and adaptation of health-related quality of life questionnaires. Quality of Life Research, 6(3), 237–247. doi:10.1023/A:1026410721664

Reporting standards

Equivalence is designed so its outputs help authors meet these reporting requirements.

  • Iliescu, D., Bartram, D., Zeinoun, P., Ziegler, M., Elosua, P., Sireci, S., Geisinger, K. F., Odendaal, A., Oliveri, M. E., Twing, J., & Camara, W. (2024). The Test Adaptation Reporting Standards (TARES): Reporting test adaptations. International Journal of Testing, 24(2), 91–116. doi:10.1080/15305058.2023.2294266

Systematic review of frameworks

  • Epstein, J., Santo, R. M., & Guillemin, F. (2015). A review of guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation of questionnaires could not bring out a consensus. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 68(4), 435–441. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2014.11.021

Method you can cite, software that enforces it

Run your adaptation on a framework, and get the documentation to prove it.

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