Survey data comparing different countries and cultures is becoming ever more common. However, before taking cross-cultural survey data comparisons as valid, it is imperative to test whether the survey items measure the same concept across various groups of respondents. We assess cross-cultural comparability by testing the measurement invariance assumption across different countries or groups. As a developing field, we also look into new ways and methods to test for measurement invariance, as well as to determine the causes of non-invariance. Most of our work has been directed at testing the cross-cultural comparability of several concepts in the European Social Survey.

Research Projects

European Social Survey (ESS) ERIC - Core Scientific Team (CST) (2008-ongoing)Additional information 

 

Selected Publications

Pirralha, A., Weber, W. (2018). Correction for measurement error in invariance testing: an illustration using SQP. Under review.

Pirralha, A. (2018).  All measures are equal but are there some more equal than others? Assessing measurement models of political trust in Europe. Under review.

Pirralha, A., Weber, W. (2018). Evaluation of measurement quality and cross-country comparison of complex concept ‘Energy Efficacy Beliefs’. London: European Social Survey ERIC.

Pirralha, A., Weber, W. (2018). Evaluation of measurement quality and cross-country comparison of complex concept “Perceived consequences of social policies’. London: European Social Survey ERIC.

Saris, W. E., Pirralha, A., & Zavala-Rojas, D. (2018). Testing the Comparability of Different Types of Social Indicators Across Groups. Social Indicators Research135(3), 927–939. doi: 10.1007/s11205-016-1506-z

Zavala-Rojas, D., & Saris, W. E. (2018). Measurement Invariance in Multilingual Survey Research: The Role of the Language of the Questionnaire. Social Indicators Research140(2), 485–510. doi:10.1007/s11205-017-1787-x

Zavala-Rojas, D. (2018). Exploring Language Effects in Cross-cultural Survey Research: Does the Language of Administration Affect Answers About Politics? Methods, Data, Analysis12(1), 24. doi:10.12758/mda.2017.16

DeCastellarnau, A., Pirralha, A. and M. Revilla (2016). Provisional analysis of R7 Political Efficacy MTMM experiments and conceptual equivalence to assist R8 questionnaire design process. London: European Social Survey ERIC.

Pirralha, A. and W. Weber (2014). Evaluations of the measurement of the concepts 'Political Satisfaction' and 'Quality of state services'. RECSM Working Paper 40. Access to the article

Schmitz, L. and Weber, W. (2014). Are Hofstede’s cultural dimensions valid? A test for measurement invariance of Uncertainty Avoidance. Interculture journal: Online Zeitschrift für interkulturelle Studien13(22), 11-26. ISSN:2196-9485