https://www.proz.com/kudoz/german-to-english/psychology/6245354-studien-zur-%C3%BCberpr%C3%BCfung-anhand-ihres-eigenen-messinstrumentes.html
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Läuferbahn
Berliner Bockkarre, Grabholz
Dec 17, 2016 18:21
7 yrs ago
German term

Studien zur Überprüfung anhand ihres eigenen Messinstrumentes

German to English Social Sciences Psychology
It's the syntax I can't unravel here, and "anhand" is giving me trouble:

Um Loevingers Ich-Entwicklungsmodell genauer zu verstehen, ist es vor allem wichtig, sich mit der Vielzahl empirischer Studien zur Überprüfung anhand ihres eigenen Messinstrumentes (WUSCT) zu beschäftigen.

My draft: "To understand Loevinger ego's development model more accurately, it is particularly important to consider the large number of empirical studies verifying her own measuring instrument (WUSCT)."

But perhaps it is the measuring instrument, the WUSCT (sentence completion test), that is being used to verify all these studies ("empirical studies verified by ... the WUSCT").

Thanks for any help!
Proposed translations (English)
3 verification studies, which were completed with the aid of her own measuring instrument (WUSCT).
Change log

Dec 18, 2016 20:41: Steffen Walter changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Votes to reclassify question as PRO/non-PRO:

PRO (3): Michael Martin, MA, Anne Schulz, Steffen Walter

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Discussion

Björn Vrooman Dec 18, 2016:
@Susan Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have misinterpreted Anne's statement then.

I like Tony's "make use of" - this is what I meant with "based on," which is the most typical translation. If I interpret it correctly, this also means I agree with Irene's "with the aid of"/"by means of."

Does that make sense now?
Teangacha (X) Dec 18, 2016:
Susan Have a very happy Christmas and New Year, Susan! : )
Susan Welsh (asker) Dec 18, 2016:
@Irene Oh, I see. Sorry, I misunderstood.
Teangacha (X) Dec 18, 2016:
PS I wasn't saying with my answer, that the studies were verified with/by her own instrument, but rather that the large number of empirical verification studies, of her ego development model, were completed using WUSCT.
Teangacha (X) Dec 18, 2016:
Hi Susan, I wish you the very best of luck with this, and would love if you can let us know, what you and the author decide.
I found this on Washington University Sentence Completion Test - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/.../Washington_University_Sentence_...
'Loevinger found the WUSCT to be more sensitive than the previous Family Problems Scale and adopted it as her main measure of ego development, publishing the WUSCT in 1979.'
This would seem to show that the WUSCT can be used to verify her theory.
All the very best
Irene
Susan Welsh (asker) Dec 18, 2016:
Thanks Tony, that at least makes sense to me (whether it's what the author meant to say I'm not sure)! And Anne, thanks for your commiseration!
TonyTK Dec 18, 2016:
I take your point, Susan, ... ... but I think we can put the confusion down to the crappy German. I suppose you could write something slightly vague like: "In order ..., it is particularly important to consider the many empirical studies that make use of the instrument she developed, the WUSCT".
Anne Schulz Dec 18, 2016:
Certainly no practical help, but... I would like to tell you I can relate to the way you feel!
Susan Welsh (asker) Dec 18, 2016:
confusion! I appreciate all your kind input, but you seem to disagree with one another.
Irene: studies verified BY her own instrument
Tony: model being investigated BY her own instrument
Anne: studies verifyING her own instrument
Björn: agrees with both Anne and Tony (who say the opposite), but suggests: verification BASED ON her own instrument

It's hard for me to see how her instrument (a sentence completion test) could verify anything, particularly the model for which it was devised in the first place. But then, with 1309 words left to go in this book, I confess that my ego development and cognitive ability are a bit worn out. I think I will use a version of "verified by" and put in a query to the author.
Björn Vrooman Dec 17, 2016:
@Anne and Tony Agree with you. In particular, consider the two sentences that follow:
"Mit der systematischen Gliederung und Aufarbeitung der empirischen Studien dazu im zweiten Kapitel, die alle wesentlichen methodischen Fragen zum Ich-Entwicklungsmodell behandelt, ist der Anspruch verbunden, die Lücken bisheriger Überblicke zu schließen. Dieser Überblick zeigt, dass alle wesentlichen Aspekte Loevingers Modells über die letzten 40 Jahre bestätigt wurden."
http://d-nb.info/1067442308/34

And later:
"Insbesondere die Vielzahl von Studien zur Konstruktvalidierung des Gesamtinstruments und zu den vier Bereichen der Ich-Entwicklung, die von vielen Forschern anhand von sehr unterschiedlichen Stichproben
durchgeführt wurden (siehe S. 142), verdeutlichen vielfältige Zusammenhänge mit weiteren psychologischen Aspekten."
http://d-nb.info/1067442308/34

See part in bold.

"anhand" is almost always "based on" - that works even in this context (verification based on her own...).
Anne Schulz Dec 17, 2016:
@Susan There seem to be two related documents, the book you seem to be translating, and the doctoral thesis of this author where very similar thoughts and concepts are presented in somewhat different words. I was referring to the thesis in my previous post. – And: With my post, I actually meant to confirm your own proposition, "...consider the large number of empirical studies verifying her own measuring instrument WUSCT". Sorry for any confusion I caused!
Mair A-W (PhD) Dec 17, 2016:
maybe not google books, but a complete text does appear to be available on n-db.info, and anne's interpretation also seems likely to me
Susan Welsh (asker) Dec 17, 2016:
I'm in Chapter 4, not Chapter 2. The excerpts online in Google Books don't include the beginning of the section, which is titled "Diskussion zum Modell der Ich-Entwicklung," which is too vague to be of any help. There's nothing in this section about the model and the test being considered separately, although the point is made elsewhere as I recall.
Anne Schulz Dec 17, 2016:
Reading what Tony has digged up, I get the feeling they mean 'studies re-assessing Loevinger's model by means of *re-assessing* her test instrument WUSCT. The text Tony refers to says, the model and the test can barely be considered separately, because they have been correlated right from the start.
TonyTK Dec 17, 2016:
You'd expect to see ... ... a direct object after "zur Überprüfung", so I'd say the German is awkward at the very least. In view of the fact that your text is easy to find on the Net, and as Chapter 2.2 is entitled "Empirische Überprüfung des Ich-Entwicklungs-Modells ...", I'd say it's the model that's being investigated - and that it's being investigated using Loevinger's own test instrument (the Washingon completion thing).
Susan Welsh (asker) Dec 17, 2016:
PRO I didn't mean to post this as non-PRO, but it seems I can't change it.

Proposed translations

35 mins
Selected

verification studies, which were completed with the aid of her own measuring instrument (WUSCT).

'So as to more accurately understand, Loevinger's ego development model, it is important to familiarise oneself with, the large number of empirical verification studies, which were completed with the aid of her own measuring instrument (WUSCT).'

Hi Susan,
I hope this helps in someway.




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Note added at 41 mins (2016-12-17 19:03:36 GMT)
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For 'anhand', could also use ' by means of' the use of.....

Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks everybody! Even though I'm not sure what the author wanted to say, I'm giving Irene the points 1) because nobody else posted an official answer, and 2) to welcome her as a new member to Proz and encourage her to answer further questions! Happy holidays, all. "