Cross-cultural research in education: Illuminating meaning by taking context into account

Abstract

Modern ICTs are making international collaboration more feasible, opening up new ways to learn from research conducted within other educational systems. Such collaborations allow replication studies, a key process in scientific research. However, it may be inappropriate to utilize a research tool and its statistical model developed in another culture because these will not automatically be admissible or equivalent in the new cultural context. Differences in context, culture, and language can potentially shed light on why valid adaptation processes did not result in equivalent statistical models. Thus, it is essential that the equivalence of a research tool and its statistical model is investigated to determine the validity of results and comparisons. This talk will examine basic principles and tools of validating a translation and statistical processes for evaluating equivalence of statistical models. Examples will be given from my research collaborations that contrast student beliefs about assessment in China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and Brazil.