Cross Cultural Research Methods

Cross-cultural research is now an undeniable part of mainstream psychology and has had a major impact on conceptual models of human behavior. Although it is true that the basic principles of social psychological methodology and data analysis are applicable to cross-cultural research, there are a number of issues that are distinct to it, including managing incongruities of language and quantifying cultural response sets in the use of scales. Cross-Cultural Research Methods in Psychology provides state-of-the-art knowledge about the methodological problems that need to be addressed if a researcher is to conduct valid and reliable cross-cultural research. It also offers practical advice and examples of solutions to those problems and is a must-read for any student of culture.

Without ethnography, cross-cultural comparison would not be possible. But without cross-cultural comparison, we would know nothing of what may be universal or variable across human cultures, or why variation exists. Cross-Cultural Research Methods is an introductory teaching tool that shows students and potential researchers how to describe, compare, and analyze patterns that occur in different cultures, that is, how to form and test anthropological, sociological, psychological, medical, or political hypotheses about cultural variation.

This is an integrated introduction to methods, research design, and data analysis tailored to the challenges of cross-cultural research.

`A sound guide through the complexities of cross-cultural research, written by an international team of first-rate scholars' - Harry C Triandis, University of Illinois This comprehensive guide, which covers all major issues in the field, presents cross-cultural methodology in a practical light. The initial presentation of theory serves as a basis for the discussion of methods, design and analysis that follows. Topics examined include: the design and analysis of quasi-experiments - the dominant framework for cross-cultural research; the most important tools of cross-cultural research; and the most useful techniques, illustrated with sample data.

Theoretical and methodological issues in cross cultural research in psychology.

Intended to bridge the gap between the latest methodological developments and cross-cultural research, this interdisciplinary resource presents the latest strategies for analyzing cross-cultural data. Techniques are demonstrated through the use of applications that employ cross national data sets such as the latest European Social Survey. With an emphasis on the generalized latent variable approach, internationally–prominent researchers from a variety of fields explain how the methods work, how to apply them, and how they relate to other methods presented in the book. Syntax and graphical and verbal explanations of the techniques are included. A website features some of the data sets and syntax commands used in the book. Applications from the behavioral and social sciences that use real data-sets demonstrate: The use of samples from 17 countries to validate the resistance to change scale across these nations How to test the cross-national invariance properties of social trust The interplay between social structure, religiosity, values, and social attitudes A comparison of anti-immigrant attitudes and patterns of religious orientations across European countries. The book is divided into techniques for analyzing cross-cultural data within the generalized-latent-variable approach: multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis and multiple-group structural equation modeling; multi-level analysis; latent class analysis; and item-response theory. Since researchers from various disciplines often use different methodological approaches, a consistent framework for describing and applying each method is used so as to cross ‘methodological borders’ between disciplines. Some chapters describe the basic strategy and how it relates to other techniques presented in the book, others apply the techniques and address specific research questions, and a few combine the two. A table in the preface highlights for each chapter: a description of the contents, the statistical methods used, the goal(s) of the analysis, and the data set employed. This book is intended for researchers, practitioners, and advanced students interested in cross-cultural research. Because the applications span a variety of disciplines, the book will appeal to researchers and students in: psychology, political science, sociology, education, marketing and economics, geography, criminology, psychometrics, epidemiology, and public health, as well as those interested in methodology. It is also appropriate for an advanced methods course in cross-cultural analysis.

Lonner and Berry's book is designed to meet the needs of field workers who are faced with a research question and teachers who discuss research problems and issues in the classroom. They have provided field workers - both those already in the field and those contemplating going into the field.

This Handbook provides an in-depth discussion on doing cross-cultural research more ethically, sensibly and responsibly with diverse groups of people around the globe. It focuses on cross-cultural research in the social sciences where researchers who are often from Western, educated and rich backgrounds are conducting research with individuals from different socio-cultural settings that are often non-Western, illiterate and poor. Covering both theoretical perspectives as well as practical ways to conduct research in cross-cultural settings, the contributors explore research work across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America. Chapters provide keen insights into Indigenous research methods and approaches to cross-cultural research with a range of different groups of Indigenous peoples, highlighting the ethical and methodological challenges for researchers conducting cross-cultural research. Top scholars in the field suggest practical tips and information on lessons they have learnt to make this a useful tool kit for early-career researchers and students. This will be a critical read for students of development studies, transnational studies and anthropology who are interested in pursuing cross-cultural research in diverse settings. It is also an invigorating read for researchers who conduct cross-cultural research as well as those who work with people from ethnic minorities and refugees.