ch11

Question 1

Differences between domestic and international research:

Answer 1

International business:
•Increased complexity
•Most slips/blunders stem from inadequate research
•Your previous business research knowledge still applies

Question 2

International research - difference from domestic research

Answer 2

•Differences between countries - e.g. political, legal, economic, social, and cultural
•Problems with comparability of research results due to these differences
•Main factors that affect international research are:
-Cultural, Ethnic, Climate, Economic, Religious, Historical, Geographical, Consumption patterns, Research conditions

In addition, the internal researcher may also have to deal with the following:
•Differences in language
•Differences in market research facilities
•Differences in market research capabilities

Question 3

Classifications of international research

Answer 3

•Single-country research
•Multicountry research
- Independent multicountry research (independently conducted similar research)
- Sequential multicountry research (countries are researched one after the other)
- Simultaneous multicountry research (multiple countries simultaneously)

Question 4

Construct equivalence in international research

Answer 4

Are we studying the same phenomena in countries X, Y and Z?

Question 5

Measurement equivalence in international research

Answer 5

Are the phenomena in countries X, Y and Z measured in the same way?

Question 6

Sampling equivalence in international research

Answer 6

Are the samples used in countries X, Y and Z equivalent?

Question 7

Without:

1) Construct equivalence
2) Measurement equivalence
3) Sample equivalence

Answer 7

Misleading results given…

1) differences in underlying constructs
2) differences in underlying measures
3) differences in underlying samples

Question 8

How to ensure construct equivalence?

Answer 8

• Draw not only from the domestic literature but also from the country specific literature when developing conceptualizations
• Conduct qualitative research (e.g. interviews, focus groups) to identify cultural differences in the meaning of a construct

Question 9

How to ensure measurement equivalence

Answer 9

•Are the phenoma/concepts that we study measured in the same way in terms of:
- wording ➡ translation equivalence
- scaling/scoring ➡ metric equivalence
in different countries?

Question 10

Translation equivalence

Answer 10

Are questionnaire items translated appropriately so that items tap into the same constructs in different countries?

Question 11

How to obtain translation equivalence?

Answer 11

Back translation:

1. Client submits the original source text
2. Original file translated into translated file
3. Translated file back translated into back translated file
4. Back translated file and original file are compared
5. If the same, translated file becomes final

Question 12

Metric equivalence

Answer 12

Do the scores given by respondents have the same meaning in different countries?
e.g. strongly agree/disagree may be different in USA vs France

• Some languages have fewer terms to express gradation in evaluation than others (e.g. Korean, less, vs French, more)
• Some countries lack familiarity with certain scaling/scoring formats

Question 13

Metric equivalence: threats to validity

Answer 13

•Response style bias

• Extreme responding (e.g. yea-saying pattern)
• Socially desirable responding

Always ask yourself: do responses to items differ due to actual national differences or to response-style bias?

Question 14

Two types of socially desirable responding

Answer 14

• Egoistic response tendencies (ERT) - self deceptive, exaggerated but honestly held positive self-view. “Super hero”.
• Moralistic response tendencies (MRT) - deliberate attempt to project a favourable self-image. “Saint”.

Country scores on ERT and MRT
Saints: More likely among women, higher educated people and more feminine countries
Super heroes: more likely among men, lower educated people and more masculine countries

Question 15

How to obtain metric equivalence?

Answer 15

•Before your data collection:
- Pictorial response scales - :), :(
- Semantic differentials (2 bipolar extremes, choose between)
•After your data collection:
- Standardize response to each variable within each country sample (“deculture” the data)
z = ( X - x ) / s
- perform analyses on the standardised variables (z)

Question 16

Reliability and validity threat in international research

Answer 16

Reliability threat: data may be old or scarce in certain countries
validity threat: governments may paint too rosy pictures

Question 17

Sampling equivalence

Answer 17

Achieve representative AND comparable samples

Population must be the same per country and strict probability sampling applied to guarantee precision

1. Timing - minimize lapses of time between data collection in different countries
2. Sampling frame
3. Data collection procedure
   (step 2 and 3 may need to be different in different countries to ensure sampling equivalence)

Equivalence = comparability ≠ keeping everything the same

Question 18

Sampling equivalence - sampling frame

Answer 18

•Use comparable sampling frames across countries (e.g. electoral lists, telephone directories, …) unless inadequate coverage in some countries

Question 19

sampling equivalence - data collection procedure

Answer 19

•Use comparable data collection procedures across countries (e.g. personal interviews, telephone interviews, mail surveys, internet surveys)
- unless a procedure leads to different biases in different countries

examples

e. g. mail surveys not effective for consumers in countries with:
- high illiteracy levels
- with an unreliable mail service
e. g. personal interviews not effective in Eastern Europe

KEY TAKEAWAY: Don’t be culturally insensitive