Psychology 307: Cultural Psychology Lecture 3

From last class …. Berry’s ecocultural model of the mind:

ECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES ECOLOGICAL CONTEXT ECOLOGICAL INFLUENCES OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOURS INFERRED CHARACTERISTICS GENETIC TRANSMISSION BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATION and CULTURAL ADAPTATION CULTURAL TRANSMISSION SOCIOPOLITICAL CONTEXT ACCULTURATION BACKGROUND VARIABLES PROCESS VARIABLES PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES POPULATION LEVEL INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

Research Methods What unique methodological challenges do cultural psychologists encounter?

By the end of today’s class, you should be able to: 1. review the primary methodological challenges that cultural psychologists encounter. 2. discuss procedures for overcoming the primary methodological challenges that cultural psychologists encounter.

What unique methodological challenges do cultural psychologists encounter? IMAGINE … that you are a cultural psychologist. What are some of the challenges that you would face in conducting research that involves the assessment or comparison of cultural groups?

Cultural psychologists encounter a host of Cultural psychologists encounter a host of methodological challenges when conducting research. Among these challenges are the following:

1. Translating Research Materials It is often necessary for cultural psychologists to translate research materials into other languages. Translation of research materials can be particularly difficult when dealing with abstract psychological concepts (e.g., emotions, traits, values). Researchers have proposed the following guidelines for writing questions or instructions in English:

Use short sentences. Employ the active voice rather than the passive voice. Repeat nouns instead of using pronouns. Avoid metaphors or colloquialisms. Use specific terms rather than general terms. Avoid words that are vague in nature (e.g., probably). Avoid sentences with 2 different verbs if the verbs suggest different actions.

After having translated research materials, cultural After having translated research materials, cultural psychologists must establish the “linguistic equivalence” of the original and translated versions. Once linguistic equivalence has been established, research materials should be field tested in the culture(s) of interest to ensure that participants are able to comprehend them.

2. Overcoming Participants’ Response Biases Cultural psychologists often employ questionnaires in their research. When using questionnaires to make cross-cultural comparisons, cultural psychologists must overcome a host of response biases. A response bias is “a systematic tendency to respond to a range of questionnaire items on some basis other than the specific item content” (Paulhus, 1991).

When cultural groups differ in their response When cultural groups differ in their response biases, the validity of any comparison between them is threatened. There are several response biases that are of concern to cultural psychologists:

(a) Acquiescence Bias Refers to a tendency to agree with questionnaire items, irrespective of their content. E.g., Rate the item “I like to socialize” using the following scale: 1 = SD, 2 = D, 3 = N, 4 = A, 5 = SA A respondent who acquiesces is likely to select “5” = Strongly Agree.

Research indicates that cultural groups differ in Research indicates that cultural groups differ in their tendency to acquiesce. Remedy for acquiescence: Include an equal number of positively-keyed items and negatively- keyed items in questionnaires.

Positively-keyed items: Agreement indicates that Positively-keyed items: Agreement indicates that the respondent possesses the characteristic, attitude, or belief assessed by the item. E.g. I like to socialize. Negatively-keyed items: Disagreement indicates that the respondent possesses the characteristic, attitude, or belief assessed by the item. E.g. I like to spend a lot of time by myself. E.g., Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale:

I take a positive attitude toward myself 1 2 …. Use the scale below to indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statements. Circle the appropriate number to the right of each statement. 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree agree I take a positive attitude toward myself 1 2 …. + keyed items On the whole, I am satisfied with myself 1 2 ….. I certainly feel useless at times 1 2 ….. - keyed items At times I think I’m no good at all 1 2 …..

Negatively-keyed items are reverse scored. In the Negatively-keyed items are reverse scored. In the case of a 5-point rating scale, this requires that respondents scores be changed as follows: 5  1; 4  2; 3 = 3; 2  4; 1  5 By including an equal number of positively-keyed items and negatively-keyed items in questionnaires, researchers ensure that respondents who acquiesce do not obtain extremely high scores.

Hypothetical responses to questionnaire items: I take a positive attitude 1 2 3 4 5 toward myself. I certainly feel useless at times. 1 2 3 4 5 Average Score = 5 Reverse score negatively-keyed items: I take a positive attitude 1 2 3 4 5 toward myself. I certainly feel useless at times. 5 4 3 2 1 Average Score = 3

(b) Moderacy and Extremity Biases Moderacy bias: Refers to a tendency to select scores near the midpoint of a rating scale when responding to questionnaire items. Extremity bias: Refers to a tendency to select scores near the endpoints of a rating scale when responding to questionnaire items.

E.g., Rate the item “I like to socialize” using the following scale: 1 = SD, 2 = D, 3 = N, 4 = A, 5 = SA A respondent who exhibits a moderacy bias is likely to select “3” = Neutral. In contrast, a respondent who exhibits an extremity bias is likely to select “1” = Strongly Disagree or “5” = Strongly Agree. Research indicates that cultural groups differ in their tendency to exhibit moderacy and extremity biases.

Remedy for moderacy and extremity biases: Use Remedy for moderacy and extremity biases: Use a “yes/no” response format or a forced-choice response format. E.g., yes/no response format: Do you like to socialize …………………..Yes / No E.g., forced-choice response format: Which of the following statements best describes you? (a) I like to socialize. (b) I like to spend a lot of time by myself.

Research Methods What unique methodological challenges do cultural psychologists encounter?