Cross-Cultural Research Methods

Question 1

Types of CC research

Answer 1

Validity and reliability in research
Method validation studies
Indigenous cultural studies
Cross-cultural comparisons

Question 2

Types of CC comparisons

Answer 2

Exploratory vs. Hypothesis testing
Contextual factors
Structure vs. Level oriented
Individual vs. Ecological (cultural) level

Question 3

Bias’

Answer 3

Measurement bias
Construct bias
Linguistic bias
Response bias
Model bias
Sampling bias
Procedural bias
Interpretational bias

Question 4

Vadility

Answer 4

How accurately does tool measure what it is supposed to measure>
- eye test: eyesight or memory?
- trying to collect taboo information e.g. drug use - is it measured or sociality desirability bias?

Question 5

Reliability

Answer 5

How consistent is measurement?
e.g. measures of personality traits should produce similar results in different circumstances.

Question 6

Exploartory vs Hypothesis testing

Answer 6

Exploratory studies – examine existence of cross-cultural similarities and differences.
Strength: broad scope for identifying similarities and differences.
Weakness: limited capability to address causes of differences.
Predictions are not made, no expectations of results.

Hypothesis-testing: examine why cultural differences may exist.
Hypothesis-testing leads to more substantial contributions to theory development.

Question 7

Structure vs. Level oriented

Answer 7

Structure: comparisons of constructs, structures or relationships with other constructs.
- Structure-oriented studies focus on relationships among variables.
- Attempt to identify similarities and differences in these relations across cultures.
- Eg. How do different cultures conceptualise intelligence.

Level oriented: comparisons of scores.
- Level-oritented studies ask whether people of different cultures have different mean levels of different variables.
- E.g. what are the mean individualism scores of different cultures?

Question 8

Individual vs Ecological (Cultural) level

Answer 8

Individual-level studies: individual participants provide data and are unit of analysis.
Ecological- or cultural-level studies: countries or cultures are units of analysis.
- E.g. Hofstede’s work-relate values
- Data from >117000 participants from 72 countries. - IBN
- Analysis of the country means on work related values led to five dimensions for describing cultures.
- Individualism vs. Collectivism
- Power distance
- Uncertainty Avoidance
- Masculinity vs Femininity
- Long vs Short term Orientation Multi-level studies: involve data collection at multiple levels of analysis.

Question 9

Linkage studies

Answer 9

Studies that measure an aspect of culture theoretically hypothesised to produce cultural differences.

Question 10

Types of linkage studies

Answer 10

Unpackaging studies
Experiments

Question 11

Unpackaging studies

Answer 11

Measurement of a variable that assess a culture factor thought to produce differences on the target variable.

Utilises context variables.

Context variables: operationalise aspects of culture that produces differences in psychological variables.

Individual-level measures of culture

Assess variable on the individual level that is through to be a product of culture.

E.g.individualism vs. Collectivism (Ecological level)

Idiocentrism: Individualism on the individual level.

Allocentrism: Collectivism on the individual level.

Question 12

Self-construal scales

Answer 12

measures independence and interdependence on individual lelve

Question 13

Priming studies

Answer 13

Experimentally manipulating mindsets of participants and measuring the resulting changes in behaviour.

Question 14

Bias

Answer 14

Differences that don’t have exactly the same meaning within and across cultures.

If bias exists in cross-cultural comparative study, comparison loses its meaning.

Important to understand many aspects of studies that may be culturally biased.

Question 15

Equivalence

Answer 15

Similarity in conceptual meaning and empirical method between cultures

Question 16

BIAS REFERS TO…

Answer 16

A STATE OF NON-EQUIVALENCE & EQUIVALENCE REFERS TO A STATE OF NO BIAS

Question 17

Area of Bias

Answer 17

Measurement Bias
Construct Bias
Linguistic Bias
Response Bias
Model Bias
Sampling Bias
Procedural (administration) Bias
Interpretational Bias

Question 18

Measurement Bias

Answer 18

Degree to which measures used to collect data in different cultures are equally valid and reliable.

Linguistic equivalence alone doesn’t guarantee measurement equivalence.

Different cultures may conceptually define a construct differently and/or measure it differently.

E.g. happy is perceived different in different countries.

Question 19

Construct Bias

Answer 19

Cross-cultural differences in definitions of meanings of psychological concepts.

If a concept holds different meanings across cultures, then comparisons are less meaningful.

Question 20

Linguistic Bias

Answer 20

Are the research protocols semantically equivalent across the languages used in the study?

Procedures used to establish linguistic equivalence: back translation (translate into one language, get the person to translate back to og language) and committee approach (team of bilingual reading through it and managing it.)

Question 21

Response Bias

Answer 21

Systematic tendency to respond in certain ways to items or scales.

If response biases exist, it is very difficult to compare data between cultures.

• Socially desirable responding: tendency to give answer that make oneself look good.
• Acquiescence bias: tendency to agree rather than disagree with items on questionnaires.
• Extreme response bias: tendency to use ends of scale regardless of item content.
• Reference group effect: people make implicit social comparisons with others when making ratings on scales – how others might respond t the item not how they would.

Question 22

Model Bias

Answer 22

A condition in which the theoretical framework underlying a study, or the hypotheses being tested mean different things in the cultures studied.

If frameworks and hypotheses tested are not equivalent across cultures, data obtained may not be comparable.

Question 23

Sampling Bias

Answer 23

Refers to when samples may not be adequate representations of their cultures as a whole, or when samples are different on noncultural demographic characteristics.

Are the samples in the cultures tested appropriately representative of their culture and equivalent to each other.

Question 24

Procedural (administration) Bias

Answer 24

Refers to situations in which the process of conducting research is different in different cultures in a study.

Do the procedures by which data recollected mean the same in all cultures tested?

Question 25

Interpretational Bias

Answer 25

Culture can bias ways researchers interpret their findings.

Data from hypothesis-testing are correlational.

Cultural attribution fallacies: claim that between-group differences are cultural without empirical justification.

Linkage studies address this problem.

Question 26

Ways to deal w/Nonequivalent data

Answer 26

Preclude comparison
Reduce non-equivalence in the data
Interpret the non-equivalence
Ignore the non-equivalence