Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation (Pocket Guides to Social Work Research Methods)

Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation, Second Edition is an applied practice-to-research text, with a focus on developing, assessing, and validating meaningful measurements across cultures and populations. This book deeply examines cultural differences that may present problems with measurements for target populations relevant to social work researchers, and features practical hands-on solutions to managing these problems using advanced quantitative methods. The authors present a step-by step approach, beginning with the conceptualization of measurements for different cultures, the processes involved in identifying item questions, and the quantitative techniques that can be used to validate new or pre-existing measures. This Second Edition also includes sample syntax from publicly available data for social work researchers to learn to conduct these types of analyses with their own research. Given the demographic changes and the reality of cultural diversity in the United States and other parts of the world today, social work researchers are increasingly aware of the need to conduct cross-cultural research and evaluation, whether for hypothesis testing or for outcome evaluation. This work's aims are twofold: to provide an overview of issues and techniques relevant to the development of cross-cultural measures and to provide readers with a step-by-step approach to the assessment of cross-cultural equivalence of measurement properties. "Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation, Second Edition is an applied practice-to-research text, with a focus on developing, assessing, and validating meaningful measurements across cultures and populations. This book deeply examines cultural differences that may present problems with measurements for target populations relevant to social work researchers, and features practical hands-on solutions to managing these problems using advanced quantitative methods. The authors present a step-by step approach, beginning with the conceptualization of measurements for different cultures, the processes involved in identifying item questions, and the quantitative techniques that can be used to validate new or pre-existing measures. This Second Edition also includes sample syntax from publicly available data for social work researchers to learn to conduct these types of analyses with their own research. New to the Second Edition: - Emphasis on Item Response Theory, and a new chapter devoted to the concept. - Increased focus on the process of instrument development, based on real-world examples - in particular, a detailed examination of the development of a new cross-cultural instrument, the Empathy Scale, created and validated by a group of multinational and culturally diverse students from the US, China, Mexico, and Turkey under the supervision of Dr. Tran. - Significant updates of all content to reflect new developments in cross-cultural research across social sciences and psychological disciplines." --Amazon.com Given the demographic changes and the reality of cultural diversity in the United States and other parts of the world today, social work researchers are increasingly aware of the need to conduct cross-cultural research and evaluation, whether for hypothesis testing or for outcome evaluation. This book’s aims are twofold: to provide an overview of issues and techniques relevant to the development of cross-cultural measures and to provide readers with a step-by-step approach to the assessment of cross-cultural equivalence of measurement properties. There is no discussion of statistical theory and principles underlying the statistical techniques presented in this book. Rather, this book is concerned with applied theories and principles of cross-cultural research, and draws information from existing work in the social sciences, public domain secondary data, and primary data from the author’s research. In this second edition, several changes have been made throughout the book and a new chapter on item response theory has been added. The chapter on developing new cross-cultural instrument has also been expanded with a concrete example. eveloping Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation, Second Edition is a practical, hands-on guide for social work researchers to learn how to develop, assess, and validate meaningful measurements across cultures and populations. The book takes the reader from conceptualization to analysis, using specific techniques with SEM and IRT for cross-cultural research. Developing Cross-Cultural Measurement in Social Work Research and Evaluation, Second Edition is a practical, hands-on guide for social work researchers to learn how to develop, assess, and validate meaningful measurements across cultures and populations. The book takes the reader from conceptualization to analysis, using specific techniques with SEM and IRT for cross-cultural research