Coding multilingual verbatims Save yourself the trouble with SmartCoding Coding the responses to open-ended questions is a laborious and costly process at the best of times. But if you conduct international market research and have to deal with open ends, or verbatims, in multiple languages, costs can really spiral out of hand. Because before you can start coding, you have to obtain translations of the verbatims in all the different languages. And do you really want to be coding for hours on end when you could be making better use of your valuable time?

So why not short-circuit the whole process? Simply send us your verbatims and we will code them directly, without any intermediate translation step. You will save both time and money!

An additional advantage is that no meaning is lost as a result of an intermediate translation step.

Code frames
Coding requires a workable collection of codes, commonly known as a code frame. As many responses can be predicted beforehand, it is quite possible to design a code frame even before the results are in, but generally there will be responses that have not been foreseen. After all, the whole point of open questions is to give respondents the freedom to express themselves. Moreover, linguistic and cultural differences may lead to varying responses.

We can create the entire code frame for you, or you can provide us with a code frame which we will then amend as necessary. Of course, the various languages will use the same code frame.

Our SmartCoders are speakers of both the language in which the questionnaire has been conducted and English, enabling them to understand the nuances of meaning in both the responses and the code frame.

In short, we take over all the hassle of code frame production, coding, coordinating the various coders, etc., enabling you to focus on the actual analysis of the survey results.

What We Do
Direct, multilingual coding - ranging from simple brand name coding (each verbatim is a brand name) to the coding of complex accounts, such as emotion-filled user experiences
Code frame management - including code frame production, maintaining code frame consistency (the same code frame for all languages) and ensuring a transparent, unequivocal code frame interpretation
Coordination of coders - we coordinate the coding so as to ensure that similar answers - independently of the language - are coded in the same way, as far as possible

What You Get
Cost and time savingsthrough direct coding - instead of translating the answers into English first and then coding them
Interlanguage consistency - for all languages, the open-ended responses are mapped directly onto the same code frame, so there is no loss or shift of meaning in an intermediate translation step