Cross-Cultural Research Methods Cross-Cultural … 2 Methods.pdfCross-Cultural Research Methods...
Transcript of Cross-Cultural Research Methods Cross-Cultural … 2 Methods.pdfCross-Cultural Research Methods...
Cross-Cultural ResearchMethods
Chapter 2
Outline
Cross-cultural comparisons
Ecological-level studies
Cultural studies
Linkage studies
Summarizing across the different methods ofcross-cultural research
Importance of Understanding Cross-CulturalResearch Methods
CROSS-CULTURALCOMPARISONS
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Studies comparing cultures on psychologicalvariable
Backbone of and most common type of cross-cultural study
Phase I studies in cross-cultural psychology
Methodological concerns withCross-cultural comparisons
Equivalence
Response Bias
Interpreting and Analyzing Data
Equivalence
• Similarity in conceptual meaning and empiricalmethod between cultures that allows comparisonsto be meaningful
• Lack of equivalence = bias
Equivalence
Linguistic : Semantic equivalence of researchprotocols across various languages
Measurement: Degree to which measures indifferent cultures are equally valid and reliable
• Cross-Cultural validation
Sampling: Degree to which samples arerepresentative of their culture and equivalent onnoncultural demographic variables
Equivalence
Procedural: Equivalence in procedures used tocollect data in different cultures
Theoretical: Equivalence in meaning of overalltheoretical framework being tested and specifichypotheses being addressed
Response Bias
Systematic tendency to respond in a certainway to items or scales
Types of response bias
• Socially desirable responding• Acquiescence bias• Extreme response bias• Reference group effect
Response Bias
Socially Desirable Responding : tendency togive answers that make self look good
Acquiescence bias : tendency to agree to items
Extreme response bias: tendency to use ends ofa scale
Reference Group Effect: tendency to implicitlycompare themselves to others in their group
Interpreting and Analyzing Data
Effect size analysis
Cause-effect versus correlationalinterpretation
Cultural Attribution Fallacies
Researcher bias
Dealing with nonequivalent data
Interpreting and Analyzing Data
Effect size analysis: statistical procedure todetermine degree to which differences in meanvalues reflect meaningful differences amongindividuals
Cause-effect versus correlationalinterpretation: cultural groups cannot bemanipulated or randomly assigned; thereforeresearchers cannot make causal inference thatculture caused differences in psychologicalvariable
Interpreting and Analyzing Data
Cultural Attribution Fallacy: attributing cause ofbetween-group differences as cultural withoutempirical justification
Researcher Bias: researchers' interpretation ofdata biased by researchers' cultural filters
Dealing with nonequivalent data: all cross-cultural studies are nonequivalent
• preclude comparison, reduce nonequivafence in data,interpret nonequivalence, ignore nonequivalence
ECOLOGICAL-LEVELSTUDIES
Ecological-Level Studies
Studies using countries or cultures as unit ofanalysis
Data obtained from individuals in differentcultures then averaged for each culture andthese averages are used as data points foreach culture
Phase II studies in cross-cultural psychology
Ecological-Level Studies
Individual-Level StudyLevel ofanalysis
Participant1
Participant2
Participant3
Participant4
Self-Esteem
P1'sscoresonSE
P2'sscoresonSE
P3'sscoresonSE
P4'sscoresonSE
AcademicPerformance
P1's score onAcademe
Performance
P2's score onAcademic
Performance
P3's score onAcademic
Performance
P4's score onAcademic
Performance
Ecological-Level StudyLevel ofanalysis
Country 1
Country 2
Country 3
Country 4
Self-Esteem
C1'sscoresonSE
C2'sscoresonSE
C3'sscoresonSE
C4'sscoresonSE
AcademicPerformance
C1's score onAcademic
Performance
C2's score onAcademic
Performance
C3's score onAcademic
Performance
C4's score onAcademic
Performance
Ecological-Level Studies
Identification of ecological-level dimensionsimportant because
• they were used as theoretical framework topredict and explain cultural differences
• Researchers could examine relationshipbetween different ecological-level data
CULTURAL STUDIES
Cultural Studies
Studies with rich descriptions of complextheoretical models of culture that predict andexplain differences
• Individualism versus Collectivism
Phase III studies in cross-cultural psychology
LINKAGE STUDIES
Linkage Studies
Studies establishing linkages between contentsof culture and psychological variables ofinterest
Phase IV studies in cross-cultural psychology
Types of linkage studies
• Unpackaging studies
• Experiments
Unpackaging Studies
Cross-Cultural comparisons with inclusion ofmeasurement of variable that assesses the contents ofculture hypothesized to produce differences
Culture as an unspecified variable is replaced withcontext variables (specific variables that explaincultural differences)
Context variables should be measured and degree towhich they account for cultural differences should bestatistically tested
Unpackaging Studies
Examples of context variables
• Individual-level measures of culture:operationalization of cultural dimensions onindividual level
• Self-construal scales: measurement ofindependence and interdependence onindividual level
• Personality
• Cultural practices
Experiments
Studies in which researchers create conditionsto establish cause-effect relationships
Types of experiments in cross-culturalpsychology
• Priming• Behavioral
Experiments
Priming
experimentally manipulates mindsets related toculture and examines whether behavior differentas function of primed mindset
If participants behave differently, then can inferprimed cultural mindset caused observeddifferences in behavior
• Priming Experiment (Trarmaw, iriandis, & Goto, 1991)
"For the next two minutes, you will not need towrite anything..
a Condition 1 (private):Please think of what makes you different from yourfamily and friends."
Q Condition 2 (collective):
Please think of what you have in common with yourfamily and friends. What do they expect you to do?
Amount of Individually-Oriented (I-O) and Group-Oriented (6-0) Responses for Americans and
Chinese in TrafimowetaL (1991)
American (-0 Chinese K) American &0 Chinese G-0Responses Response Response Response
D PrivatePrime
• CollectivePrime
Experiments
Behavioral Studies
Examines whether experimental manipulationsof environment causes changes in participants'behavior
SUMMARIZING ACROSS THEDIFFERENT METHODS OF CROSS-
CULTURAL RESEARCH
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Research Question: Are the cultures different onthe psychological variable of interest?
Method: Participants in two or more culturesmeasured on psychological variable and theirresponses compared
Results: Demonstrates that people of differentcultures differ on psychological variable
Limitations: Cannot be sure what aspect ofculture, if any, produced differences
Ecological-Level Studies
Research Question: 1) What are culturaldimensions that exist on ecological level? 2) How arecultural dimensions related to psychological variableson ecological level?
Method: Data for cultures (averaged responses frommembers of culture or data associated with culture)compared
Results: Demonstrates that cultural means on onpsychological variable related to cultural dimensionson cultural level
Limitations: Cultural level findings not applicable onindividual level
Cultural Studies
Research Question: What aspect of culture arerelated to psychological processes?
Method: Participants in two or more culturesmeasured on psychological variable and theirresponses compared. This is done within theoreticalframework of why differences may occur
Results: Demonstrates that people of differentcultures differ on psychological variable
Limitations: Cannot be sure cultural processesassociated with theoretical framework is whataccounts for differences
Linkage Studies
Research Question: How are specific and measurableaspects of culture empirically related to psychologicalprocesses?
Method: Specific aspects of culture measured ormanipulated, then empirically related to psychologicalvariable
Results: Demonstrates that specific aspects of cultureare empirically related and thus accounts for culturaldifferences on psychological variable
Limitations: Cannot be sure what other specificaspects of culture may be better explanations ofdifferences or that the culture is causing the differences
THE IMPORTANCE OFUNDERSTANDING CROSS-
CULTURAL RESEARCH METHODS
Methods associated with each phase of cross-cultural research not mutually exclusive
Limitations of linkage studies (Phase IV)
Cross-cultural research in future shouldincorporate ecological-level data, culturaltheories, and linkage variables, at differentlevels of analysis, to try to explain differencesand similarities, in mental processes andbehaviors
CONCLUSION