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Apples and Oranges? The Problem of Equivalence in Comparative Research

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  • Stegmueller, Daniel

Abstract

Researchers in comparative research are increasingly relying on individual level data to test theories involving unobservable constructs like attitudes and preferences. Estimation is carried out using large-scale cross-national survey data providing responses from individuals living in widely varying contexts. This strategy rests on the assumption of equivalence, that is, no systematic distortion in response behavior of individuals from different countries exists. However, this assumption is frequently violated with rather grave consequences for comparability and interpretation. I present a multilevel mixture ordinal item response model with item bias effects that is able to establish equivalence. It corrects for systematic measurement error induced by unobserved country heterogeneity, and it allows for the simultaneous estimation of structural parameters of interest.

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  • Stegmueller, Daniel, 2011. "Apples and Oranges? The Problem of Equivalence in Comparative Research," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 471-487.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:polals:v:19:y:2011:i:04:p:471-487_01
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    Cited by:

    1. T. W. G. Meer & E. Ouattara, 2019. "Putting ‘political’ back in political trust: an IRT test of the unidimensionality and cross-national equivalence of political trust measures," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(6), pages 2983-3002, November.
    2. Joseph Paul Lavallee & Bruno Di Giusto & Tai-Yi Yu & Su-Pin Hung, 2022. "Reliability and Validity of Widely Used International Surveys on the Environment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-22, September.
    3. Denis Federiakin, 2020. "Investigating The Cross-National Comparability Of Testing Using Response Times," HSE Working papers WP BRP 57/EDU/2020, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    4. Dmitriy Poznyak & Bart Meuleman & Koen Abts & George Bishop, 2014. "Trust in American Government: Longitudinal Measurement Equivalence in the ANES, 1964–2008," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 118(2), pages 741-758, September.
    5. Boris Sokolov, 2019. "Sensitivity Of Goodness Of Fit Indices To Lack Of Measurement Invariance With Categorical Indicators And Many Groups," HSE Working papers WP BRP 86/SOC/2019, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    6. Büchi, Moritz, 2016. "Measurement invariance in comparative Internet use research," MediArXiv 42h39, Center for Open Science.

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