Page 115 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge

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Designs and Methods of Research

By using external reference data from every culture, complex weighting
and standardization procedures can possibly lead to valid equalization
of levels and variance (more detailed in van de Vijver and Leung 1997).
In research practice, emic measuring and data analysis are used to high-
light cultural differences (Hui and Triandis 1985; Greenfield 1996, 306;
Piedmont and Chae 1997, 132–3).
If construct equivalence can be assumed after an in-depth analysis, the
research team should prefer an etic modus operandi. Here, approach-
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ing the different cultures with the same instrument is valid because
the constructs function equally in every culture. Consequently, an emic
procedure should probably come to similar instruments in every culture
(Hui and Triandis 1985; Helfrich 1993; Piedmont and Chae 1997, 132–4;
van de Vijver and Tanzer 1997, 265–6). Reciprocally, an etic approach
must lead to bias and measurement artifacts, when applied under the
circumstances of missing construct equivalence.
The advantages of emic proceedings are not only the adequate mea-
surement of culture specificity but also the possible inclusion of idio-
graphic elements of each culture. Thus, this approach can be seen as
acompromise of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The psy-
chologist Greenfield (1996, 307–9) and – in political science – Hartmann
(1995, 25–30) suggest analyzing cultural processes in a holistic way with-
out crushing them into variables; psychometric, quantitative data collec-
tion would only be suitable for similar cultures. As an objection to this
simplification, one should remember the emic approach’s potential to
provide the researchers with comparable data, as previously described.
In contrast, holistic analyses produce culture-specific outcomes that will
not be comparable.
The etic and emic approaches both have advantages and disadvan-
tages, so that the aim must be to determine a fitting compromise between
“purely” etic and “purely” emic procedures for a well-founded research
project (e.g., Triandis et al. 1993; Piedmont and Chae 1997).

Linguistic Adaptation of the Instruments
Difficulties in establishing equivalence are regularly linked to linguis-
tic problems: How can a researcher try to establish functional equiv-
alence without the knowledge of every language of the cultures un-
der examination? Cultural differences between states or countries can

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The instruments used in an etic study do not have to be absolutely identical, but can
be adapted, culture-specifically.

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