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    Cross Cultural Research Methods

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    Joanna Mabutot
    This document discusses various types and methods of cross-cultural research. It describes method validation studies, cross-cultural validation studies, and indigenous cultural studies. It also discusses different types of cross-cultural comparisons including exploratory vs. hypothesis testing studies, those examining presence/absence of contextual factors, and those comparing structures vs. levels. The document also outlines designs that establish linkages between culture and behaviors, issues of bias and equivalence, enculturation, socialization, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of environmental influences on development.

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    Cross Cultural Research Methods

    Uploaded by

    Joanna Mabutot
    178 views36 pages
    This document discusses various types and methods of cross-cultural research. It describes method validation studies, cross-cultural validation studies, and indigenous cultural studies. It also discusses different types of cross-cultural comparisons including exploratory vs. hypothesis testing studies, those examining presence/absence of contextual factors, and those comparing structures vs. levels. The document also outlines designs that establish linkages between culture and behaviors, issues of bias and equivalence, enculturation, socialization, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of environmental influences on development.

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    culture psychology

    Original Title

    CROSS-CULTURAL-RESEARCH-METHODS (1)

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    This document discusses various types and methods of cross-cultural research. It describes method validation studies, cross-cultural validation studies, and indigenous cultural studies. It also discusses different types of cross-cultural comparisons including exploratory vs. hypothesis testing studies, those examining presence/absence of contextual factors, and those comparing structures vs. levels. The document also outlines designs that establish linkages between culture and behaviors, issues of bias and equivalence, enculturation, socialization, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of environmental influences on development.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    178 views36 pages

    Cross Cultural Research Methods

    Uploaded by

    Joanna Mabutot
    This document discusses various types and methods of cross-cultural research. It describes method validation studies, cross-cultural validation studies, and indigenous cultural studies. It also discusses different types of cross-cultural comparisons including exploratory vs. hypothesis testing studies, those examining presence/absence of contextual factors, and those comparing structures vs. levels. The document also outlines designs that establish linkages between culture and behaviors, issues of bias and equivalence, enculturation, socialization, and Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of environmental influences on development.

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    CROSS – CULTURAL RESEARCH

    METHODS
    TYPES OF CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH
    • Method Validation Studies

    Validity refers to whether or not a scale, test, or


    measure accurately measures what it is supposed to
    measure.

    Reliability refers to whether it measures it


    consistently. These concepts are extremely
    important to all researchers, cross-cultural or not.
    • Cross-cultural validation studies

    - They examine whether a measure of a


    psychological construct that was originally
    generated in a single culture is applicable,
    meaningful, and most importantly
    psychometrically equivalent
    • Indigenous Cultural Studies
    These are characterized by rich descriptions of
    complex theoretical models of culture that
    predict and explain cultural differences.

    Cross-Cultural Comparisons
    • are studies that compare cultures on some
    psychological variable of interest. Cross-cultural
    comparisons serve as the backbone of
    crosscultural research and are the most
    prevalent type of cross-cultural study.
    TYPES OF CROSS-CULTURAL
    COMPARISONS
    Exploratory vs. Hypothesis Testing

    - Exploratory studies are designed to examine


    the existence of cross-cultural similarities and
    differences.

    - Hypothesis-testing studies are designed to


    examine why cultural differences may exist.
    - Presence or Absence of Contextual Factors

    • Contextual factors may involve characteristics of


    the participants (such as socioeconomic status,
    education, and age) or their cultures (such as
    economic development and religious institutions).
    • Structure vs. Level Oriented

    Structure - involve comparisons of constructs


    (e.g., is depression conceptualized in the same
    way across cultures?), their structures (can
    depression be assessed by the same constituent
    elements in different cultures?), or their
    relationships with other constructs (do
    depression and anxiety have the same
    relationship in all countries?).
    • Level oriented - involve the comparisons of
    scores (do individuals from different cultures
    show the same level of depression?).

    • Structure-oriented studies focus on relationships


    among variables and 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 (Cultural) Level

    Individual-level studies are the typical type


    of study in psychology, in which individual
    participants provide data and are the unit of
    analysis.

    • Ecological- or cultural-level studies use


    countries or cultures as the unit of analysis.
    Designs that Establish Linkages Between
    Culture and Individual Mental Processes and
    Behaviors
    • Two types of linkage studies :

    Unpackaging Studies
    - are extensions of basic cross-cultural
    comparisons, but include the measurement of a
    variable (contextual factor) that assesses the
    contents of culture that are thought to produce
    the differences on the variable being compared
    across cultures.
    In unpackaging studies, “culture” as an
    unspecified variable is replaced by more
    specific variables in order to truly explain
    cultural differences. These variables are called
    context variables, and should be measured to
    examine the degree to which they can
    account for cultural differences.
    • Individual-Level Measures of Culture
    - are measures that assess a variable on the
    individual level that is thought to be a product of
    culture.

    Self-Construal Scales

    - scales measuring independence and


    interdependence on the individual level
    • Experiments

    - are studies in which researchers create


    conditions to establish cause-effect relationships.
    Participants are generally assigned randomly to
    participate in the conditions, and researchers
    then compare results across conditions.
    Different types of experiments conducted in
    Cross-cultural Psychology
    • Priming Studies

    - are those that involve experimentally


    manipulating the mindsets of participants
    and measuring the resulting changes in
    behavior.
    • Behavioral Studies

    -  studies that facilitate in understanding


    why we behave the way we do and they
    are concerned with discovering patterns
    in our actions.
    BIAS AND EQUIVALENCE

    Bias - refers to differences that do not have


    exactly the same meaning within and across
    cultures.

    Equivalence - is a state or condition of similarity


    in conceptual meaning and empirical method
    between cultures that allows comparisons to be
    meaningful.
    Five major areas of Bias
    1. Conceptual Bias
    -  explain distortion differences between hand
    and objects in localization tasks.

    2. Method Bias
    - Sampling Bias – refers to whether cross-cultural
    samples can be compared.
    • Linguistic Bias – refers to whether the research
    protocols—items on questionnaires, instructions,
    etc.—used in a cross-cultural study are
    semantically equivalent across the various
    included in the study.

    • Procedural Bias - the issue of bias and


    equivalence also applies to the procedures used
    to collect data in different cultures
    • Measurement Bias

    refers to the degree to which measures used to


    collect data in different cultures are equally
    valid and reliable. As mentioned above, validity
    refers to whether a measure accurately
    measures what it is supposed to measure;
    reliability refers to how consistently a measure
    measures what it is supposed to measure
    Response Bias
    - is a systematic tendency to respond in a certain
    way to items or scales.

    Different Types of Response Bias

    Socially desirable responding


    - is the tendency to give answers that make
    oneself look good
    • Acquiescence bias - the tendency to agree rather
    than disagree with items on questionnaires

    • Extreme response bias- the tendency to use the


    ends of a scale regardless of item content

    • Reference group effect - This idea is based on the


    notion that people implicit social comparisons
    with others when making ratings on scales, rather
    than relying on direct inferences about a private,
    personal value system
    • Interpretational Bias

    • Analyzing Data. In testing cultural differences on


    target variables of interest, researchers often use
    inferential statistics such as chi-square or
    analysis of variance (ANOVA) and engage in what
    is known as null hypothesis significance testing
    Dealing with Nonequivalent Data

    • Four different ways in which the problem of


    nonequivalence of cross-cultural data can be
    handled

    1. Preclude comparison. The most conservative


    thing a researcher could do is not make the
    comparison in the first place, concluding that it
    would be meaningless.
    2. Reduce the nonequivalence in the data. Many
    researchers take steps to identify equivalent and
    nonequivalent parts of their methods and then
    refocus their comparisons solely on the
    equivalent parts.

    3. Interpret the nonequivalence. A third strategy is


    for the researcher to interpret the
    nonequivalence as an important piece of
    information concerning cultural differences.
    4. Ignore the nonequivalence. Unfortunately,
    what many cross-cultural researchers end up
    doing is simply ignoring the problem, clinging to
    beliefs concerning scale invariance across
    cultures despite a lack of evidence to support
    those beliefs.
    ENCULTURATION
    • Enculturation is the process by which
    people learn the dynamics of their
    surrounding culture and acquire values
    and norms appropriate or necessary to
    that culture and its worldviews. As part of
    this process, the influences that limit,
    direct, or shape the individual include
    parents, other adults, and peers
    • “Cultural learning “
    - learning not only from others but through
    others

    Socialization
    • - is the process by which we learn and
    internalize the rules and patterns of the society in
    which we live. This process, which occurs over a
    long time, involves learning and mastering
    societal norms, attitudes, values, and belief
    systems. The process of socialization starts early,
    from the very first day of life.
    Socialization generally refers to the actual
    process and mechanisms by which people learn
    the rules of society—what is said to whom and
    in which contexts.

    Enculturation generally refers to the products of


    the socialization process—the subjective,
    underlying, psychological aspects of culture that
    become internalized through development.
    BRONFENBRENNER’S ECOLOGICAL
    THEORY
    • The ecological theory
    developed by Urie
    Bronfenbrenner (1917–
    2005) primarily focuses
    on the social contexts in
    which children live and
    the people who influence
    their development.
    Five Environmental Systems
    • Bronfenbrenner’s (1995,
    Bronfenbrenner & Morris,
    2006) ecological theory
    consists of five environmental
    systems that range from close
    interpersonal interactions to
    broad-based influences of
    culture. The five systems are
    the microsystem, mesosystem,
    exosystem, macrosystem, and
    chronosystem
    • A microsystem is a setting in
    which the individual spends
    considerable time, such as the
    student’s family, peers, school,
    and neighborhood. Within these
    microsystems, the individual has
    direct interactions with parents,
    teachers, peers, and others. For
    Bronfenbrenner, the student is
    not a passive recipient of
    experiences but is someone who
    reciprocally interacts with others
    and helps to construct the
    microsystem.
    • The mesosystem
    involves linkages
    between
    microsystems.
    Examples are the
    connections between
    family experiences and
    school experiences
    and between family
    and peers
    • The exosystem is at
    work when experiences
    in another setting (in
    which the student does
    not have an active role)
    influence what
    students and teachers
    experience in the
    immediate context.
    • The macrosystem is the larger
    culture as a whole and includes
    socioeconomic status, wealth,
    poverty, and ethnicity. This
    further includes children, their
    parents and school, and their
    parent's workplace as part of a
    larger cultural context.

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