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Drawing on the experience of sampling and assessing thousands of elders, who dwell both in rural and urban areas, from all socio-economic strata, we present data collection procedures recommended to assess elderly populations. Based on International Test Commission's Guidelines (2010) for test translation and adaptation, we propose the administration of psychological tests to older adults in an interview format arguing that it is better suited for such population. We provide and discuss practical examples and common problems of data collection regarding: the need of adapting the translation to make cultural and psychological sense; the lack of familiarity of most elders with the psychological assessment setting and process; and, ethical concerns for this specifi c population. Keywords: Elderly, psychological assessment, protocol adaptation, International Test Commission, illiteracy. ResumoBaseados na experiência de seleção e avaliação de milhares de idosos residentes em meio rural e urbano, pertencentes aos diversos estratos socioeconómicos, apresentamos procedimentos de recolha de dados recomendáveis para esta população. Considerando as diretrizes de tradução e adaptação de testes da International Test Commission (2010), propomos a administração de testes psicológicos a idosos sob a forma de entrevista, argumentando que esta é a forma mais adequada. Apresentamos e discutimos exemplos práticos e problemas comuns relativos à recolha de dados, considerando: a necessidade de nas traduções ser atendido o signifi cado cultural e psicológico; a falta de familiaridade da maioria dos idosos com o cenário e o processo de avaliação psicológica; e, aspetos éticos vis-à-vis esta população. Palavras-chave: Idosos, avaliação psicológica, adaptação de protocolos, International Test Commission, analfabetismo.

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This study aimed to adapt the Santa Clara Strength of Religious Faith Questionnaire (SCSRFQ)-Brief Version to the Portuguese elderly, and to investigate the effect of relevant and easy to assess predictors on the strength of religious faith. Participants were 778 non-institutionalized Catholic elderly (65 or older), with a majority of women, young-olds (65-74), with four years or less of education, and practicing Catholics. The sample was randomly split in two (n = 389) to study the invariance and the structural validity of the SCSRFQ-Brief Version across both groups. Following this step, a multiple indicators and multiple causes model for age, gender, educational level, and religious participation influence on strength of religious faith was tested across groups.All predictors were statistically significant, with religious participation being the most influential. The study of religion in the elderly is enriched by resource to valid multipleitem instruments as the SCSRFQ-Brief Version.

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