© 2013 Cengage Learning

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

TYPES OF CROSS-TYPES OF CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCHCULTURAL RESEARCH

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

TYPES OF CROSS-TYPES OF CROSS-CULTURAL CULTURAL

COMPARISONSCOMPARISONS

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

DESIGNING CROSS-DESIGNING CROSS-CULTURAL CULTURAL

COMPARATIVE COMPARATIVE RESEARCHRESEARCH

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 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