title: Lost in interpretation: the use of interpreters in research on mental ill health.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The literature concerning interpretation in research primarily concentrates on rigorous techniques to eliminate bias. This article analyses other significant issues that arise when interpreters participate in research.
  
  
  METHODS
  Empirical examples are drawn from a research project concerning mental ill health in a multicultural neighbourhood.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Interpreters influence interview data in ways commonly unnoticed by researchers. One often-overlooked factor is that languages are dynamic and interpreters are not instruments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Research conducted with an interpreter is a complex undertaking. Solely relying on checklists to improve methodological rigour can result in a false sense of the material's validity.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health and Society, Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden. karin.ingvarsdotter@mah.se
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ingvarsdotter
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Johnsdotter
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Östman
mesh_terms: D003144:Communication Barriers; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000208:ethnology*; D012106:Research; D013548:Sweden; D014175:Translating