OutlineOutline
Types of Cross-Cultural Research Method validation studies Indigenous cultural studies Cross-cultural comparisons
Types of Cross-Cultural Comparisons Exploratory vs. hypothesis testing Contextual factors Structure vs. level oriented Individual vs. ecological (cultural) level
Outline (cont'd.)Outline (cont'd.)
Designing Cross-Cultural Comparative Research Getting the right research question Designs that establish linkages between culture and
individual mental processes and behaviors
Bias and equivalence Conceptual bias Method bias Measurement bias Response bias Interpretational bias
Method Validation StudiesMethod Validation Studies
Validity: how accurately does tool measure what it is supposed to measure?
Reliability: how consistent is measurement? Cannot take scale or measure developed and
validated in one culture and use it in another Cross-cultural validation studies:
Tests equivalence of psychological measures Important to conduct before cross-cultural
comparisons
Indigenous Cultural Studies Indigenous Cultural Studies
Rich descriptions of complex theoretical models of culture
Predict and explain cultural differences Psychological processes and behavior can be
understood within cultural milieu To understand behavior requires in-depth
analysis of cultural systems Roots in anthropology
Cross-Cultural Comparisons Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Compare cultures on some psychological variable of interest
Serve as backbone of cross-cultural research Most prevalent type of cross-cultural study Different types of cross-cultural studies are
prominent at different times Own set of methodological issues have an
impact on quality
Exploratory vs. Hypothesis Testing Exploratory vs. Hypothesis Testing
Exploratory studies: examine existence of cross-cultural similarities and differences
Hypothesis-testing: examine why cultural differences may exist
Strength of exploratory studies: broad scope for identifying similarities and differences
Weakness of exploratory studies: limited capability to address causes of differences
Hypothesis-testing leads to more substantial contributions to theory development
Contextual FactorsContextual Factors
Characteristics of participants or their cultures Involves any variable that can explain observed
cross-cultural differences Enhances validity and helps rule out influence of
biases and inequivalence Evaluation of contextual factor influence can
help to (dis)confirm their role in accounting for cultural differences observed
Hypothesis testing studies generally need to include contextual variables
Structure vs. Level Oriented Structure vs. Level Oriented
Structure: comparisons of constructs, structures, or relationships with other constructs
Level oriented: comparisons of scores Structure-oriented studies focus on relationships
among variables Attempt to identify similarities and differences in these
relations across cultures
Level-oriented studies ask whether people of different cultures have different mean levels of different variables
Individual vs. Ecological Individual vs. Ecological (Cultural) Level (Cultural) Level
Individual-level studies: individual participants provide data and are unit of analysis
Ecological- or cultural-level studies: countries or cultures are units of analysis
Most-well-known ecological-level study of culture is Hofstede's seminal work
Multi-level studies: use data from at least two levels
Statistical techniques examine relationship of data
Getting the Right Research QuestionGetting the Right Research Question
Research design starts with comprehensive knowledge of literature
Understanding why study is to be conducted leads to questions about how to conduct it
Major challenge: how to isolate source of cultural differences
Identify active cultural (vs. noncultural) ingredients that produce those differences
Researchers need to pay attention to many theoretical and empirical issues
Designs that Establish Linkages Designs that Establish Linkages between Culture and Individual between Culture and Individual
Mental Processes and BehaviorsMental Processes and Behaviors Unpackaging studies
Includes measurement of a variable Assesses contents of culture thought to produce
differences of the variable Utilizes context variables
Individual-level measures of culture Assess variable on individual level thought to be
product of culture Individualism versus collectivism
Designs that Establish Linkages Designs that Establish Linkages between Culture and Individual Mental between Culture and Individual Mental
Processes and Behaviors (cont'd.)Processes and Behaviors (cont'd.)
Self-construal scales Measures independence and interdependence on
individual level
Personality Cultural differences may be a product of different
levels of personality traits in each culture
Cultural practices Includes child-rearing practices, nature of
interpersonal relationships, or cultural worldviews
Designs that Establish Linkages Designs that Establish Linkages between Culture and Individual Mental between Culture and Individual Mental
Processes and Behaviors (cont'd.)Processes and Behaviors (cont'd.)
Experiments Studies in which researchers create conditions to
establish cause-effect relationships
Priming studies Experimentally manipulating mindsets of participants
and measuring resulting changes in behavior
Behavioral studies Manipulations of environments and observation of
changes in behavior as function of environments
Bias and EquivalenceBias and Equivalence
Bias: differences that do not have exactly the same meaning within and across cultures
Equivalence: similarity in conceptual meaning and empirical method between cultures
Bias refers to a state of non-equivalence, and equivalence refers to a state of no bias
If bias exists in cross-cultural comparative study, comparison loses its meaning
Important to understand many aspects of studies that may be culturally biased
Method BiasMethod Bias
Sampling bias Are samples appropriate representatives of culture?
Linguistic bias Are research protocols semantically equivalent across
languages?
Procedural bias Are procedures, environments, and settings
equivalent across cultures?
Measurement Bias Measurement Bias
Degree to which measures used to collect data in different cultures are equally valid and reliable
Linguistic equivalence alone does not guarantee measurement equivalence
Different cultures may conceptually define a construct differently and/or measure it differently
Psychometric equivalence Measurement equivalence is on a statistical level
Factor analysis Creates groups of items on a questionnaire
Response BiasResponse Bias
Systematic tendency to respond in certain way to items or scales
If response biases exist, it is very difficult to compare data between cultures
Socially desirable responding: tendency to give answers 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
Response Bias (cont'd.)Response Bias (cont'd.)
Reference group effect: people make implicit social comparisons with others when making ratings on scales
In past, response biases viewed as methodological artifacts that need to be controlled
Today, growing view that response bias is important part of cultural influence on data
Interpretational BiasInterpretational Bias
Analyzing data Researchers often use inferential statistics Statistics compare differences observed between
groups to differences occurring due to chance “Proof by negation of the opposite“ In past, “statistically significant” results were
interpreted as meaningful Statistical differences between means does not give
indication of meaningfulness
Dealing with Nonequivalent Data Dealing with Nonequivalent Data
Poortinga (1989): Preclude comparison Reduce the nonequivalence in the data Interpret the nonequivalence Ignore the nonequivalence
Interpreting Findings Interpreting Findings
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