查看文章

The major goal of this chapter is to provide a comprehensive overview of the methodological issues encountered in cross-cultural research. Since the reviews in the first edition of the Handbook on testing and assessment by Irvine and Carroll (1980) and on experimentation by Brown and Sechrest (1980), many developments have taken place. In our presentation, we focus on data sets that are comparative in nature. Most studies of this type involve data from at least two cultural groups, but some studies are monocultural. In such studies, previous work must provide data and results before meaningful cross-cultural comparisons to be made. Monocultural studies commonly conducted by ethnographers and anthropologists that do not touch upon cross-cultural comparison will fall outside of the scope of our review.

We see the process of conducting cross-cultural research as composed of three important steps. First, the research questions must be explicitly stated. Second, a method that is appropriate to the research questions raised should be selected. Method is defined here as the design, sampling, administration, and instrumentation involved in the collection of data. Finally, the appropriate data analysis should be chosen in light of the research questions raised and the method chosen. We consider these three steps as intertwined, and they should be considered simultaneously prior to data collection. This three-step framework is used in organizing the materials that follow.