Open AccessNon-invariance? An Overstated Problem With Misconceived Causes
Author(s) -
Christian Welzel,
Lennart Brunkert,
Stefan Kruse,
Ronald Inglehart
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
sociological methods and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1552-8294
pISSN - 0049-1241
DOI - 10.1177/0049124121995521
Subject(s) - measurement invariance , nomological network , sample (material) , construct (python library) , sign (mathematics) , psychology , field (mathematics) , social psychology , confirmatory factor analysis , structural equation modeling , statistics , mathematics , computer science , pure mathematics , mathematical analysis , chemistry , chromatography , programming language
Scholars study representative international surveys to understand cross-cultural differences in mentality patterns, which are measured via complex multi-item constructs. Methodologists in this field insist with increasing vigor that detecting “non-invariance” in how a construct’s items associate with each other in different national samples is an infallible sign of encultured in-equivalences in how respondents understand the items. Questioning this claim, we demonstrate that a main source of non-invariance is the arithmetic of closed-ended scales in the presence of sample mean disparity. Since arithmetic principles are culture-unspecific, the non-invariance that these principles enforce in statistical terms is inconclusive of encultured in-equivalences in semantic terms. Because of this inconclusiveness, our evidence reveals furthermore that non-invariance is inconsequential for the cross-cultural functioning of multi-item constructs as concerns their nomological linkages to other variables of interest. We discuss the implications of these insights for measurement validation in cross-cultural settings with large sample mean disparity.