Measurement Invariance in Multilingual Survey Research: The Role of the Language of the Questionnaire

This paper examines whether or not survey measures asked to two linguistic groups exhibit invariance within a country. It tests configural, metric and scalar invariance in a model that distinguishes the response component and the cognitive component of the measurement process using survey items. Our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social indicators research 2018-11, Vol.140 (2), p.485-510
Main Authors: Zavala-Rojas, Diana, Saris, Willem E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
European cultural groups
Human Geography
Language
Measurement
Microeconomics
Politics
Polls & surveys
Public Health
Quality of Life Research
Questionnaires
Responses
Social research
Social Sciences
Sociology
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Description
Summary:This paper examines whether or not survey measures asked to two linguistic groups exhibit invariance within a country. It tests configural, metric and scalar invariance in a model that distinguishes the response component and the cognitive component of the measurement process using survey items. Our findings show that when differences in the response process are allowed, concepts are (partially) invariant across groups. The analysis is conducted for items measuring some aspects of political trust and satisfaction with politics for six linguistic groups including French, Dutch, Estonian, German, Ukrainian and Russian in four countries. Data comes from the European Social Survey.
ISSN:0303-8300
1573-0921
DOI:10.1007/s11205-017-1787-x