Applied Hierarchical Linear Modeling for Cross-Cultural Comparison

2021 ◽  
pp. 268-290
Author(s):  
Thanh V. Tran ◽  
Keith T. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Neighborhood Effects ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Cultural Data Analysis ◽  
Neighborhood Level

We explain and demonstrate the application of Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) in cross-cultural research. This method of analysis has not been sufficiently explored in social work research, and it can be a highly useful and appropriate statistical approach for making cross-cultural comparisons. We explain the rationale for HLM or multilevel modeling for cross-cultural data analysis, and we provide an example in which we use Stata to test for neighborhood effects across race groups using survey data. We provide Stata commands and examples of testing for invariance of effects across groups while controlling for heteroscedasticity due to neighborhood level effects. Finally, we included geomaps based on the data to provide visualization of neighborhood effects.

Conclusion and Future Directions

2021 ◽  
pp. 291-294
Author(s):  
Thanh V. Tran ◽  
Keith T. Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Social Work Students ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Linear Modeling ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cultural Comparisons

We conclude the book in this chapter, and discuss a summary of chapters, limitations and future directions. Defining culture is a complex task, and we provided practical guides for social work students and researchers to make cross-cultural comparisons in their research. We began this book with a discussion on culture and its relation to social work. We then outlined the process of data management and the use of descriptive statistic techniques to describe differences among cultural groups. We demonstrated and illustrated the application of cross cultural comparisons using linear regression, logistic regression, structural equation modeling (SEM), hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), and geomap visualizations. We concluded with a discussion on limitations and our hope for future directions in cross-cultural research in the social work discipline.

Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh Tran ◽  
Tam Nguyen ◽  
Keith Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Outcome Evaluation ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Measurement Properties ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research

Given the demographic changes and the reality of cultural diversity in the United States and other parts of the world today, social work researchers are increasingly aware of the need to conduct cross-cultural research and evaluation, whether for hypothesis testing or for outcome evaluation. This book’s aims are twofold: to provide an overview of issues and techniques relevant to the development of cross-cultural measures and to provide readers with a step-by-step approach to the assessment of cross-cultural equivalence of measurement properties. There is no discussion of statistical theory and principles underlying the statistical techniques presented in this book. Rather, this book is concerned with applied theories and principles of cross-cultural research, and draws information from existing work in the social sciences, public domain secondary data, and primary data from the author’s research. In this second edition, several changes have been made throughout the book and a new chapter on item response theory has been added. The chapter on developing new cross-cultural instrument has also been expanded with a concrete example.

Research Methods in Cross-Cultural Psychology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fons J.R. Van de Vijver ◽  
Jia He
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Psychology ◽  
Ecological Validity ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Item Functioning ◽  
Generic Term ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Differential Item Functioning Analysis ◽  
Methodological Aspects

Bias and equivalence provide a framework for methodological aspects of cross-cultural studies. Bias is a generic term for any systematic errors in the measurement that endanger the comparability of cross-cultural data; bias results in invalid comparative conclusions. The demonstration of equivalence (i.e., absence of bias) is a prerequisite for any cross-cultural comparison. Based on the source of incomparability, three types of bias, namely construct, method, and item bias, can be distinguished. Correspondingly, three levels of equivalence, namely, construct, metric, and scalar equivalence, can be distinguished. One of the goals in cross-cultural research is to minimize bias and enhance comparability. The definitions and manifestations of these types of bias and equivalence are described and remedies to minimize bias and enhance equivalence at the design, implementation, and statistical analysis phases of a cross-cultural study are provided. These strategies involve different research features (e.g., decentering and convergence), extensive pilot and pretesting, and various statistical procedures to demonstration of different levels of equivalence and detections of bias (e.g., factor analysis based approaches and differential item functioning analysis). The implications of bias and equivalence also extend to instrument adaptation and combining etic and emic approaches to maximize the ecological validity. Instrument choices in cross-cultural research and the categorization of adaptations stemming from considerations of the concept, culture, language, and measurement are outlined. Examples from cross-cultural research of personality are highlighted to illustrate the importance of combining etic and emic approaches. The professionalization and broadening of the field is expected to increase the validity of conclusions regarding cross-cultural similarities and differences.

Implicit-Shape Constancy: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

Perception ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan B Deregowski
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Comparison ◽  
Shape Constancy ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Pictorial Perception ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
African Sample

A group of Scottish schoolchildren were tested on a task intended to measure the effect of implicit-shape constancy, and the scores were compared with those obtained from African samples. It was found that both groups were influenced by the implicit-shape constancy although the influence was less in the African sample. The relationship of these findings to other published reports of cross-cultural research into pictorial perception and susceptibility to illusions is discussed.

Assessing and Testing Cross-Cultural Measurement Equivalence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh V. Tran ◽  
Tam Nguyen ◽  
Keith Chan
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Comparison ◽  
Fundamental Issue ◽  
Equivalence Test ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Total Correlation ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Cross Cultural Research

A cross-cultural comparison can be misleading for two reasons: (1) comparison is made using different attributes and (2) comparison is made using different scale units. This chapter illustrates multiple statistical approaches to evaluating the cross-cultural equivalence of the research instruments: data distribution of the items of the research instrument, the patterns of responses of each item, the corrected item–total correlation, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and reliability analysis using the parallel test and tau-equivalence test. Equivalence is the fundamental issue in cross-cultural research and evaluation.

Overview of Culture and Cross-Cultural Research

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thanh V. Tran ◽  
Tam Nguyen ◽  
Keith Chan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Behavioral Problems ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Social Work Research ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research

Different academic disciplines and schools of thoughts often have different definitions and categorizations of culture. No agreement has ever been reached in defining culture. This chapter discusses the concept of culture and reviews the basic principles of multidisciplinary cross-cultural research. The readers are introduced to cross-cultural research in anthropology, psychology, political science, and sociology. These cross-cultural research fields offer social work both theoretical and methodological resources. The readers will find that all cross-cultural research fields share the same concern—that is, the equivalence of research instruments. One cannot draw meaningful comparisons of behavioral problems, social values, or psychological status between or across different cultural groups in the absence of cross-culturally equivalent research instruments. Although this book emphasizes the importance of measurement equivalence in cross-cultural social work research and evaluation, the issues of cultural sensitivity and cultural appropriateness are the foundation of all types of social work research and interventions.

scholarly journals Is smiling during humor so obvious? A cross-cultural comparison of smiling behavior in humorous sequences in American English and French interactions

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 563-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béatrice Priego-Valverde ◽  
Brigitte Bigi ◽  
Salvatore Attardo ◽  
Lucy Pickering ◽  
Elisa Gironzetti
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
American English ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cross Cultural Comparison ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Smiling Behaviors

AbstractThe present article is part of a larger cross-cultural research project on speaker-hearer smiling behavior in humorous and non-humorous conversations in American English and French. The American corpus consists of eight computer-mediated interactions between English native speakers, and the French one consists of four face-to-face interactions between French native speakers. The goal of the study is twofold: first, we analyze the link between smiling and humor, focusing on the degree of synchronicity of smiling and the intensity of smiling during humorous and non-humorous segments; second, we investigate the various targets mobilized in conversational humor. The results obtained comparing the two data-sets show a correlation between the presence of humor, an increased smiling intensity, and an increase in the synchronized smiling behaviors displayed by participants. However, the two corpora also differ in terms of the displayed smiling behaviors: French participants display more non-synchronic smiling when humor is absent and more synchronic smiling when humor is present. Regarding the various targets of humor (Speaker, Recipient, Other person, Situation, Speaker+Recipient), while their distribution is different – it is more evenly distributed in the French data – the way in which these are mobilized in order to become humorous is quite similar.

Sociocultural memory development research drives new directions in gadgetry science

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Van Bergen ◽  
John Sutton
Keyword(s):  
Episodic Memory ◽  
Autobiographical Memory ◽  
Developmental Psychology ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Memory Development ◽  
Development Research ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
New Directions ◽  
Cross Cultural Research

Abstract Sociocultural developmental psychology can drive new directions in gadgetry science. We use autobiographical memory, a compound capacity incorporating episodic memory, as a case study. Autobiographical memory emerges late in development, supported by interactions with parents. Intervention research highlights the causal influence of these interactions, whereas cross-cultural research demonstrates culturally determined diversity. Different patterns of inheritance are discussed.

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