Problems associated with cross-cultural research
Cross-cultural research is not an easy task. The researcher must overcome many additional factors not inherent in typical research tasks. Some of these factors are discussed below.
Definition Problems
Terms used in research instruments; particularly the word 'culture' itself is open to interpretation. As has been discussed there are more than 164 definitions for this one word alone. Then when one considers other terminology used in the questionnaire these too become subject to interpretation. It can become a case of: is the question determining the culture, or the culture determining the question? Problems of translating questions and responses add to these difficulties.
Methodological Simplicity
One error most researchers have in common, is that they are based on an ethnocentric pattern, and they represent a single timeframe only. These errors can provide bias, misinterpretation and inaccuracies.
A final problem with methodological simplicity is the question of the researchers background, that is, research tends to be from only one discipline, a better foundation is for multi-disciplinary approach (sociology, psychology, political science, economics, anthropology, etc.).
Equivalency
Equivalency can be divided into four dimensions: functional, conceptual, instrument and measurement equivalence.
Functional equivalence assumes that a functional role in one country is the same in another. For example considering the usage of bicycles in Australia and Vietnam, the two countries would perceive different uses. Australians would see the use as predominately recreational, while many Vietnamese would see it as an essential mode of transport.
Conceptual equivalence regards the cultural utility of behavioural or attitudinal constructs. For instance, company loyalty in Asia may be seen as devotion to one's workplace and by following the rules, while in Australia it may be following instructions and not breaking the rules.
Instrument equivalence and measurement equivalence regard the cross-cultural consistency of the research instrument, whether it is equally represented across the entire sample. This includes participant bias towards scaling. For example some cultures will tend not to provide extreme levels on a scaled question, while other cultures will tend to. Language can also be problematic in this regard and can be overcome through the adoption of back-translation and multilingual panel analysis.
Inadequate attention to these methodological constraints can affect the viability of cross-cultural research. It is therefore critical a researcher adopts as unbiased and unambiguous a research instrument as is practical.