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Best Practices: Translating Multi-Country Surveys

aytm supplies respondents from over 50 countries and 25 languages. If you plan to field the same survey in multiple countries you will need a separate survey for each country. If you plan to field a survey in multiple languages in one country, learn more in Building a Multilingual Panel Survey.

Start by programming your master survey and creating any necessary language clones. Once your survey structure is in place, you'll be able to use various on and off platform methods to program translations, (e.g., translating with a CSV).

 

Programming

1. Program a Master survey

Creating an English master version allows us, upon request, to merge your data from other countries into the English version post-fielding. Additionally, having an English version is an insurance policy; you always have a backup or reference point.

  1. Program a master copy of your survey in English, including all question and answer options for all countries. (E.g. For certain questions, you have an additional answer option that only applies to German-speakers.)
  2. Preview the survey, and proofread to ensure it's ready to be translated.
  3. In the Internal Survey Title field, give your survey a standard naming convention like Date | Master English Version | Survey Title.
    E.g. 2022-12-01 | Master English Version | Ad Concept Test

 

 

2. Using ISO Country Code Logic for Multi-Country Surveys

When designing surveys for multiple countries where:

  • Answer sets differ by country (e.g., local retailers or brands)
  • Certain questions are not relevant to all countries, 

…but you still want to merge the data later, it’s important to retain the full answer sets and all questions in every version of the survey, keeping them in the same order.

Use ISO country code logic to control which questions or answer options are shown in each country version. This is done using bracket logic like: [show if country = "XX" or country =
"XX"].Note: Country codes automatically populate once you begin typing the bracket logic and define the country variable using [country =.

  1. Include the full list of answer options in each country version (e.g., all brands or retailers across markets).
  2. Apply country-specific logic to each answer or question using the two-letter ISO country code. Example:  Apply country-specific logic to each answer or question using the two-letter ISO country code.
    Example: Apply [show if country = "DE" or country = "ES" or country = "IT" or country = "FR"] to the relevant answer(s). When applied, this will show the relevant answer choices to respondents in Germany, Spain, Italy, and France.
  3. Ensure consistency across all versions to simplify data merging and analysis.

Note: All logic should be implemented exclusively within the Survey Editor page. Do not add any logic to the Language columns in the Translation Table or CSV file. The platform will automatically add the logic to the Researcher Language column of the Translation Table, and into a dedicated Logic column. of the CSV.

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3. Make Clones for each version of your survey

Once the master version of a survey has been created,  create clones for each additional language.

  1. In the drafts section of your dashboard, locate the Master English Version of your survey, and click the settings wheel that appears on hover.
  2. Select Clone, and click the drop-down to confirm in which of your folders you would like the draft to appear.
  3. Under Survey Languages, deselect any language you do not want included in the cloned survey. This will remove both the translation text and its corresponding column(s), with the exception of the researcher language, which is required and cannot be removed.
  4. Click Clone to create the clone and remain on the Dashboard page, or click Clone & Edit to be redirected to the Target Market page.
  5. Click the pencil icon to the right of the Survey title to name the cloned survey. aytm recommends renaming with the Country name and Language used in the cloned survey. This ensures easy searchability and organization. E.g. Spanish/Mexico Version. From here, you can begin editing your survey.

Note: aytm recommends cloning a survey only after the master version has been launched or reviewed by aytm. This helps prevent the duplication of surveys that may contain unresolved errors.
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4. Select survey country and language for clones

  1. On the Target Market page of your cloned (and re-titled!) survey, click the Country drop-down to select the country in which you would like to field your survey.
  2. Click the Language drop-down to select the language in which you would like to field your survey (if there are multiple languages available for a country).
  3. If selecting a language other than English, click Show me in English to view the demographic traits on the Target Market page in English; respondents will still see trait questions in the selected language.

Note: Some countries may offer more than one language; learn more about fielding a survey in multiple languages within one country using Multilingual Panel Surveys. If you do not see your desired language, please reach out to our support team, or your account manager for assistance.
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View the countries and languages we currently support.

 

 

Translations

Now that the core structure of your survey is in place, you're ready to begin translating it into additional languages. There are several flexible methods available, depending on your workflow and resources. Below, we’ll walk through each approach:

 

Choosing your Translation WorkFlow

  • Skipper Translate: If you have Skipper enabled for your account, you can use Skipper Translate to automatically generate translations directly within the platform. This keeps the entire process streamlined and centralized. You can then review and refine translations in the language table.
    Note: Users also have the flexibility to choose how translation is handled—Skipper can fully translate the survey, or you can use Skipper to generate the initial translation and then collaborate with a human translator to review and enhance the final output.
  • Working on the Platform: If you're collaborating with a translator—either with or without using Skipper Translate first—you have two ways to share the survey content:
      1. On-Platform Collaboration: Invite the translator to access the platform and make manual edits directly in the Translation table. This is ideal if the translator is familiar with the platform and can work in real time.
      2. Offline Collaboration: Export your survey content and send it to the translator for offline editing:
        • .CSV File: Best for structured translation workflows. Keep in mind, if sending out a CSV file for translation, advise the translator to:
          • Only edit column D, the non-English Column.
          • Only edit the column with text, never Logic.
          • Example CSV

Translating on Platform

By cloning the Master English version, and changing the country/language, you retain the original survey structure, while creating an independent survey for each additional language to share with a translator on your team. They will be able to translate the survey directly in the platform, but will not have the ability to change the structure of the survey.

  1. From the Survey Editor, click the Share button to the right of the Quick Preview link.
  2. Click the Generate button to the right of the Correctors/translators link.
  3. Click the Copy button, or highlight the text and use the copy command on your keyboard.
  4. Paste this link in a message with your translation team on your preferred communication platform (email, Slack, Teams, etc.).

Once the Translation link has been sent to your translator, they can begin translating within the translation table.

Note: If you need translation services, please contact your account manager for a quote. 
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Translating with a .CSV File

When a study is to be fielded in a language other than English, and the person or supplier completing the translation is not an aytm user, we recommend using the aytm platform's CSV export feature.

 

1. Exporting a CSV from the Translation Table

  1. Click the Languages icon in the survey editor page to open the translation table.
  2. Select Download CSV. 
  3. Share the exported English Master CSV file with your translation team on your preferred communication platform (email, Slack, Teams, etc.).  Advise your translator to add translations to column D. They do not need to include any [bracket logic], just the text translations.
    Note: Please ensure they do not delete any rows or columns, and they only add translations to column D.

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Uploading a .CSV File

Once the translation is complete and saved to your device, you are ready to upload your translated .csv file. 

  1. Click on the Translation Table icon at the top right of the Survey Editor.
  2. Click Upload CSV.
  3. Select the correct file from your hard drive, and your survey will populate within a few minutes.

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A few notes if working with a translator and/or translating with a CSV

  1. Any text in the Reference or Logic columns should remain unaltered. If translated, it will disrupt the survey upload process.
  2. Leave the English column completely untouched.
  3. Only translate the question text in the non English column(s) (e.g., Spanish).

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Requesting and working with Merged Surveys

If your surveys have the same structure (same number and order of questions, same number of answer options; as when you cloned the Master English Version), after all surveys have completed fielding, reach out to your account manager with the survey IDs to request a merge.

The merged survey Results page will provide you the ability to filter by country (look for source_survey_id in the Filters menu, and/or set up a Virtual Question (VQ) by country. 
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Want to learn more about translating surveys? Check out our course in Lighthouse Academy!

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