Adapting a Detailed Spanish Source for Specialist and General Audiences

Adapting a Detailed Spanish Source for Specialist and General Audiences

In this lesson, you will adapt one detailed Spanish source for two audiences: specialists who need methodological precision and general readers who need accessible explanation. You may change terminology, definitions, examples, and structure, but you must preserve the findings, limitations, and degree of certainty.

Detailed source

Fuente:

En un estudio piloto de seis semanas, 240 participantes utilizaron una aplicación de seguimiento del sueño. El análisis comparó la regularidad horaria con una medida autodeclarada de somnolencia diurna. Se observó una asociación moderada entre horarios más regulares y menor somnolencia declarada, pero el diseño observacional no permite establecer causalidad. Además, la muestra procedía de una sola empresa y la aplicación no verificó clínicamente la duración real del sueño. — Source: In a six-week pilot study, 240 participants used a sleep-tracking application. The analysis compared schedule regularity with a self-reported measure of daytime sleepiness. A moderate association was observed between more regular schedules and lower reported sleepiness, but the observational design does not allow causality to be established. In addition, the sample came from a single company and the application did not clinically verify actual sleep duration.

What must survive every adaptation

Core finding:

Se observó una asociación moderada entre horarios más regulares y menor somnolencia declarada. — A moderate association was observed between more regular schedules and lower reported sleepiness.

Design limit:

el diseño observacional no permite establecer causalidad — the observational design does not allow causality to be established.

Sample limit:

la muestra procedía de una sola empresa — the sample came from a single company.

Measurement limit:

la aplicación no verificó clínicamente la duración real del sueño — the application did not clinically verify actual sleep duration.

Specialist audience

A specialist audience may need the design, sample, variables, and measurement limitations early.

Specialist version:

Un estudio piloto observacional de seis semanas analizó a 240 participantes de una sola empresa. La regularidad de los horarios registrada por una aplicación se comparó con una medida autodeclarada de somnolencia diurna. El análisis identificó una asociación moderada entre mayor regularidad y menor somnolencia declarada. Dado el diseño observacional, no puede inferirse una relación causal. La generalización también está limitada por la procedencia de la muestra y por la ausencia de una verificación clínica de la duración real del sueño. — A six-week observational pilot study analyzed 240 participants from a single company. Schedule regularity recorded by an app was compared with a self-reported measure of daytime sleepiness. The analysis identified a moderate association between greater regularity and lower reported sleepiness. Given the observational design, a causal relationship cannot be inferred. Generalization is also limited by the source of the sample and the absence of clinical verification of actual sleep duration.

Why this version suits specialists

It names:

• observational design
• sample size and source
• variables being compared
• self-report measurement
• causal limitation

General audience

A general audience may not need all methodological labels immediately, but it still needs the limits.

General version:

Durante seis semanas, 240 personas de una empresa utilizaron una aplicación para registrar la regularidad de sus horarios de sueño. Quienes tenían horarios más regulares también tendían a declarar menos somnolencia durante el día. Sin embargo, el estudio no demuestra que la regularidad sea la causa de esa diferencia. Todos los participantes procedían de una sola empresa y la aplicación no comprobó clínicamente cuánto dormía realmente cada persona. — For six weeks, 240 people from one company used an app to record the regularity of their sleep schedules. Those with more regular schedules also tended to report less sleepiness during the day. However, the study does not prove that regularity caused that difference. All participants came from one company, and the app did not clinically verify how much each person actually slept.

Define a necessary technical term

If you need to use:

estudio observacional — observational study.

you can explain:

un estudio en el que se observan relaciones entre variables sin asignar experimentalmente a los participantes a una intervención — a study in which relationships between variables are observed without experimentally assigning participants to an intervention.

Use examples for the general audience

Example:

Que dos cosas aparezcan juntas no significa necesariamente que una cause la otra. — The fact that two things appear together does not necessarily mean that one causes the other.

This makes the causal limitation accessible without changing it.

Do not simplify away the source of the measure

Unsafe:

Las personas con horarios regulares tenían menos somnolencia. — People with regular schedules had less sleepiness.

Safer:

Las personas con horarios más regulares declaraban menos somnolencia. — People with more regular schedules reported less sleepiness.

Declaraban preserves the fact that sleepiness was self-reported.

Do not turn moderate into strong

Source strength:

una asociación moderada — a moderate association.

Do not adapt this as:

una relación muy fuerte — a very strong relationship.

Do not invent advice

The source does not support:

Todo el mundo debería acostarse a la misma hora para evitar la somnolencia. — Everyone should go to bed at the same time to avoid sleepiness.

The source is observational and does not establish a universal prescription.

Audience structure can change

Specialist structure:

diseño → muestra → variables → resultado → limitaciones — design → sample → variables → result → limitations.

General structure:

pregunta cotidiana → resultado principal → explicación sencilla → límites — everyday question → main result → simple explanation → limits.

The order changes, but the evidential content does not.

A practical audience-adaptation method

1. Extract the source's findings and limits before rewriting.
2. Decide what terminology the specialist audience needs.
3. Decide which terms the general audience needs defined or paraphrased.
4. Use examples only to explain, not to add new findings.
5. Preserve measurement type, sample, scope, and degree of certainty.
6. Change structure and vocabulary without changing the claim.
7. Compare both versions against the same source before finalizing.

From Audience Adaptation to the C1 Research Project

You can now adapt one detailed source for different audiences without changing its evidential limits. The next lesson is C1 Project: Produce a Spanish Research Brief, Lead a Discussion, and Revise Your Conclusions.