A committee approach maintaining cultural originality in translation.

Various methods have been used to translate existing assessment tools and clinical nursing materials from one language to another. The method of choice depends on the research objectives, availability of translators, budget, and time. We highlight our experience using the committee approach to translation. This less commonly used approach introduces the concept of cultural consensus building early in the translation process, which is particularly appropriate when languages are culturally and linguistically distant. Our experience centers on the translation of the Primary Communication Inventory (PCI), from English to Japanese, to study first-time parents in Japan.