Semantic Examination of a Japanese Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression

Background Cross-cultural research relies on the linguistic, conceptual, and semantic equivalence of instruments. Widely used translations of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CESD) for cross-cultural samples should be analyzed to reaffirm conceptual and semantic equivalence. Purpose This methodological study aimed to discover and resolve problematic translations of a Japanese version of the CESD. Design Sequential explanatory mixed method design using spiraling integration. Methods Sample includes 34 first-generation Japanese women living in the US and 72 community-based women in Japan. Ethnographic analysis of the semantic meanings of items was followed by t tests to compare original and retranslated item means, as well as Cronbach’s reliability and corrected item-total correlations analyses. Results Six problematic items were retranslated: bothered, failure, hope, restless sleep, happiness, and “getting going.” Reliabilities for the CESD that included the new CESD item translations were the same; however, most item-scale correlations were higher for the revised translations across the two groups. Conclusions We conclude that both failure and “getting going” may be culturally bound items. Implications for cross-cultural and ethnographic nursing research include planning mini-ethnographic analysis when using translations to discover and reconcile cultural differences in connotations, motivations, and goals.

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Development of the Japanese Version of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Dictionary 2015 (J-LIWC2015)

10.31234/osf.io/5hq7d ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Tasuku Igarashi ◽

Kazutoshi Sasahara

Keyword(s):

Language Processing ◽

Japanese Version ◽

Computational Social Science ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Word Count ◽

Semantic Equivalence ◽

Cultural Research ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

Powerful Research Tool ◽

Linguistic Inquiry

The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count Dictionary 2015 (LIWC2015) is a standard text analysis dictionary that quantifies linguistic/psychometric properties of English words. The development of a Japanese version of the LIWC2015 dictionary (J-LIWC2015) has been expected in the fields of natural language processing and cross-cultural research. This study aims to create J-LIWC2015 through systematic investigations of the original dictionary and Japanese corpora. All words in the LIWC2015 dictionary were initially subjected to human and machine translation into Japanese. After verifying the frequency of use of the words in large corpora, frequent words and phrases that are unique to Japanese were added to the dictionary, followed by re-category assignments by psychologists. The updated dictionary indicated good internal consistency, semantic equivalence with the original LIWC2015 dictionary, and good construct validity in each category. The evidence suggests that the J-LIWC2015 dictionary is a powerful research tool in computational social science to scrutinize psychological processes behind Japanese texts and to promote standardized cross-cultural investigations in combination with the LIWC dictionaries in different languages.

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Measurement Invariance of a Universal Behavioral Screener Across Samples From the USA and Germany

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000447 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 34 (2) ◽

pp. 87-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Gino Casale ◽

Robert J. Volpe ◽

Brian Daniels ◽

Thomas Hennemann ◽

Amy M. Briesch ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Measurement Invariance ◽

Student Behavior ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cross Cultural Comparison ◽

School Based ◽

Cultural Research ◽

Universal Screener ◽

Confirmatory Factor ◽

The Us ◽

The Usa

Abstract. The current study examines the item and scalar equivalence of an abbreviated school-based universal screener that was cross-culturally translated and adapted from English into German. The instrument was designed to assess student behavior problems that impact classroom learning. Participants were 1,346 K-6 grade students from the US (n = 390, Mage = 9.23, 38.5% female) and Germany (n = 956, Mage = 8.04, 40.1% female). Measurement invariance was tested by multigroup confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) across students from the US and Germany. Results support full scalar invariance between students from the US and Germany (df = 266, χ2 = 790.141, Δχ2 = 6.9, p < .001, CFI = 0.976, ΔCFI = 0.000, RMSEA = 0.052, ΔRMSEA = −0.003) indicating that the factor structure, the factor loadings, and the item thresholds are comparable across samples. This finding implies that a full cross-cultural comparison including latent factor means and structural coefficients between the US and the German version of the abbreviated screener is possible. Therefore, the tool can be used in German schools as well as for cross-cultural research purposes between the US and Germany.

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The Globalization of Disability Protests, 1970‐2005: Pushing the Limits of Cross-Cultural Research?

Comparative Sociology ◽

10.1163/156913210x12536181351114 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 222-240 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sharon Barnartt

Keyword(s):

Cross Cultural ◽

Mobility Impairments ◽

Cultural Research ◽

Political Protests ◽

The Us ◽

Cross Cultural Research ◽

Media Reports ◽

The Uk

AbstractThis paper examines political protests related to disability issues which occurred since 1970. It examines almost 700 protests outside the US and over 1200 within the US. The data come from media reports and organization websites. Results show that US protests increased after 1984 while non-US protests increased substantially after 1989. The largest numbers of non-US protests occurred in the UK and Canada. US protests are proportionally more likely than non-US protests to be cross-disability or to relate to mobility impairments, while outside of the US disability-specific protests, especially those related to blindness and deafness, are more common. American protests are more likely to target governments as opposed to non-governmental targets than were non-US protests. Factors relating to disability as well as methodological limitations are considered in explaining these differences.

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Some Findings of the US-Japan Cross-cultural Research on Students’ Problem-solving Behaviours

International Comparisons in Mathematics Education ◽

10.4324/9780203012086-14 ◽

2012 ◽

pp. 131-149

Keyword(s):

Problem Solving ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

Cultural Research ◽

The Us ◽

Cross Cultural Research

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Changing meanings of university teaching: the emotionalisation of academic culture in Russia, Israel and the US

Emotions and Society ◽

10.1332/263169021x16123454415815 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Julia Lerner ◽

Claudia Zbenovich ◽

Tamar Kaneh-Shalit

Keyword(s):

Academic Culture ◽

Cross Cultural ◽

University Teaching ◽

Power Struggle ◽

Subjective Experiences ◽

Academic Teaching ◽

Hierarchical Relations ◽

The Us ◽

University Discourse ◽

Ethnographic Analysis

In this study, we reflexively focus our gaze on the global shift toward the emotionalisation of academic culture, taking the perspective of a university institution and its staff. We argue that emotional consumerism is fundamental to the current condition of academic teaching; it is embedded in its institutional agenda and shapes faculty’s subjective experiences. Our ethnographic analysis reveals also that understanding emotional academic capitalism requires a cross-cultural lens. Thus, we probe the meanings of teaching in three academic contexts – Russia, Israel and the US – tracing how local neoliberalism, cultural emotional communicative scripts and educational traditions, as well as political cultures, shape the emotionalisation of university teaching differently. Academic teaching in the US appears as care combined with fear; teaching in Israel is articulated as a therapeutic power struggle; while in Russia, teaching is interpreted as a peculiar combination of authoritative impersonalised services. This juxtaposition exposes different local manifestations of neoliberal emotional university discourse that merges therapeutic logic and its emotional language, reconfigures hierarchical relations, and integrates national political ethos into the act of teaching.

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Sociocultural memory development research drives new directions in gadgetry science

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19000979 ◽

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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