Methods and Bias

Question 1

Types of studies

Answer 1

• Exploratory studies
• Hypothesis-testing

Question 2

Exploratory studies

Answer 2

Examines the existence of cross-cultureak similarities or differences
- strength: broad scope for identifying similarities and differences
- weakness: limited capability to solve the causes of differences

Question 3

Hypothesis-testing studies

Answer 3

Examines why cultural differences exist
- inferences promote cross-cultural biases and inequivalence

Question 4

What are we looking for with studies?

Answer 4

• structure-oriented studies

Question 5

Structure-oriented studies

Answer 5

Comparison of a culture’s constructs structures, or relationships amoing constructs with those of another culture

Question 6

At what level are we doing research?

Answer 6

• individual level studies
• ecological (cultural) studies
• multilevel studies

Question 7

Individual level studies

Answer 7

Individual participants provide data and are the unit of analysis

Question 8

Ecological (cultural) studies

Answer 8

Countries or cultures are the units of analysis
- Hofstede

Question 9

Multilevel studies

Answer 9

Involve data collection at multiple levels of analysis

Question 10

Distinguising levels is improtant

Answer 10

Because of isomorphism (the realtionship of the variable is the same across levels)
- but this is not a given: relations between variables may not be the same at different levels

Question 11

The Simpsons paradox

Answer 11

The relation between two factors on an individual level can be negative while the relation an the national level is positive. So the effect of the relation differs across different levels
- obese and health individually is bad, but national means more wealth and healthcare

Question 12

Challanges when designing studies

Answer 12

Are the differences actually cultural –> validity of theoretical models
- Linkage studies

Question 13

Linkage studies

Answer 13

1. Unpackaging studies
2. experiments

Question 14

Unpackaging studies

Answer 14

Unpackaging studies seperate the contents of the global, unspecific concept of culture into specific, measurable psychological constructs and examine their contribution to cultural differences
- lots of contextual information is important

Question 15

Poortinga on culture

Answer 15

Culture as a placeholder for what we do not understand yet
–> Culture is like peeling an onion: peeling away layer by layer

Question 16

Experiments (linkage studies)

Answer 16

Priming studies and behavioral studies

Question 17

Priming studies

Answer 17

Involve experimentally manipulating the mindsets of participants and measuring resulting chamges in behavior

Question 18

Behavioral studies

Answer 18

Involve manipulations of environments and observation of changes in behavior

Question 19

The ecological fallacy

Answer 19

Inferences on individuals based on aggregated country-level data
–> make a statement about an individual based on the mean of the country
(Differences within groups can be bigger than differences between groups)

Question 20

Bias

Answer 20

Differences that do not have the sam meaning within and across cultures
- if bias exists in cross-cultural comparative study, the comparison loses its meaning

Question 21

Equivalence

Answer 21

State or condition of similarity in conceptual meaning and empirical method between cultures
- allows comparisons to be meaningful
–> what is the level of comparability

Question 22

Measurement bias

Answer 22

Are the specific measures, tests, or instruments used to collect data in different cultures equallu valid and reliable across those cultures?

Question 23

Construct bias

Answer 23

Are psychological constructs defined in the same way across cultures>

Question 24

Linguistic bias

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Response bias

Answer 25

Do people of the different cultures have different tendencies to respond to questions?

Question 26

Model bias

Answer 26

Do the theoretical framework and hypotheses being tested mean the same thing in the cultures being tested?
- happiness; is it same everywhere?

Question 27

Sampling bias

Answer 27

Are the samples in the cultures tested appropriate respresentative of their culture and equivalent to each other?

Question 28

Procedural bias

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Interpretational bias

Answer 29

Are statistically significant findings practicually meaningful?
- are the interpretations made about the findings and conclusions drawn biased in some way?
- are the interpretations about cultural sources of differences justified by data?

Question 30

Filial piety
- Example for construct bias

Answer 30

Respect for parents is universal
But: it can be more or less extensive, for instance when deciding what a family does when their elderly parents need support

Question 31

Item/linguistic bias

Answer 31

An item is biased when it has a different psychological meaning across cultures
- item is not applicable
- has cultural connotations
- cannot be translated

Question 32

Different method biases

Answer 32

• Measurement/instrument bias = test characteristics
• Linguistic/item bias = are items semantically equivalent?
• response bias = response styles (extremities or acquiescence)
• sampling bias = confounding differences
• procedural/adminsitration bias = procedural (interviewer effects)

Question 33

Test adaption for translations

Answer 33

Forward and backward translation: translate from on to another language and someone else translate it back, to see if the interpretation is the same
- committee approach
- cognitive interview

Question 34

Interpretational bias
- Poortinga’s ways for dealing with nonequivalence

Answer 34

• ignore the nonequivalence
• interpreting the nonequivalence
• preclusing comparison
• reducing the nonequivalence in the data

Question 35

Method validation and indigenous studies

Answer 35

Cross-cultural validation studies
Indigenous cultural studies

Question 36

Cross-cultural validation studies

Answer 36

studies that examin whether a scale, test, or measure originally developed in a culture is valid in another culture

Question 37

Indigenous cultural studies

Answer 37

Rich description of complex theoretical models within a single culture
- insights generated from these studies compared across studies and cultures