Fons J. R. van de Vijver

The Robustness of Rasch Estimates

The small scale applicability of Rasch estimates was investigated under simulated conditions of guess ing and heterogeneity in item discrimination. The ac curacy of the Rasch estimates was evaluated by means of the correlation between the item/person parameters and their estimates, the standard deviations of the esti mates, and the difference as well as the root mean squared difference between parameters and estimates. Within the range of the present investigation (from 10 to 50 items and from 25 to 500 persons) these criteria yielded favorable results under conditions of heteroge neous item discrimination. Under conditions of guess ing, robustness could only be demonstrated for the correlational criterion. Guessing affects the difference measures between the parameter values and estimates quite strongly in a systematic way. It is argued that, notwithstanding these estimation errors, the Rasch model is to be preferred over nonstandard estimation procedures, from which the validity is unclear, or the use of the three-parameter model with its computa tional problems in small samples.The small scale applicability of Rasch estimates was investigated under simulated conditions of guess ing and heterogeneity in item discrimination. The ac curacy of the Rasch estimates was evaluated by means of the correlation between the item/person parameters and their estimates, the standard deviations of the esti mates, and the difference as well as the root mean squared difference between parameters and estimates. Within the range of the present investigation (from 10 to 50 items and from 25 to 500 persons) these criteria yielded favorable results under conditions of heteroge neous item discrimination. Under conditions of guess ing, robustness could only be demonstrated for the correlational criterion. Guessing affects the difference measures between the parameter values and estimates quite strongly in a systematic way. It is argued that, notwithstanding these estimation errors, the Rasch model is to be preferred over nonstandard estimation procedures, from which the validity is unclear, or the use o...

On enhancing the cross-cultural comparability of Likert-Scale Personality and Value Measures: A comparison of common procedures : Enhancing comparability

This study aims to evaluate a number of procedures that have been proposed to enhance cross–cultural comparability of personality and value data. A priori procedures (anchoring vignettes and direct measures of response styles (i.e. acquiescence, extremity, midpoint responding, and social desirability), a posteriori procedures focusing on data transformations prior to analysis (ipsatization and item parcelling), and two data modelling procedures (treating data as continuous vs as ordered categories) were compared using data collected from university students in 16 countries. We found that (i) anchoring vignettes showed lack of invariance, so they were not bias–free; (ii) anchoring vignettes showed higher internal consistencies than raw scores where all other correction procedures, notably ipsatization, showed lower internal consistencies; (iii) in measurement invariance testing, no procedure yielded scalar invariance; anchoring vignettes and item parcelling slightly improved comparability, response style correction did not affect it, and ipsatization resulted in lower comparability; (iv) treating Likert–scale data as categorical resulted in higher levels of comparability; (v) factor scores of scales extracted from different procedures showed similar correlational patterning; and (vi) response style correction was the only procedure that suggested improvement in external validity of country–level conscientiousness. We conclude that, although no procedure resolves all comparability issues, anchoring vignettes, parcelling, and treating data as ordered categories seem promising to alleviate incomparability. We advise caution in uncritically applying any of these procedures. Copyright

How to Adapt Tests for Sub-Saharan Africa

Researchers and practitioners interested in monitoring child development in the African context often feel hampered by the lack of appropriate scales and measures. Given this shortage, it would be possible for them to adopt (an existing instrument), adapt (an existing instrument), or assemble (a new instrument) as a means of dealing with the problem. We discuss and highlight the pros and cons of each of these procedures. In addition, we propose systematic procedures that can be used to carry different processes (i.e., adoption, adaptation, or assembly) alongside approaches for evaluating the level of success in providing an adequate measure for the context in which they are working.

The kaleidoscope of language, ethnicity, and identity in Uzbekistan

The historical and political situation of Uzbekistan created a unique context where language and ethnicity do not completely overlap for all groups. The study focused on three groups of Uzbeks: Uzbek Uzbek speakers, Russian Russian speakers, and Uzbek Russian speakers. We explored how national, ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and religious identities are associated with interethnic friendship and romantic relationships in these three groups. Identities that are more inclusive (national and ethnolinguistic) were associated with more positive interethnic attitudes and practices, while the opposite was found for ethnic identity. The national, ethnic, ethnolinguistic, and religious identities were strongest for Uzbek-speaking Uzbeks and weakest for the Russian-speaking Russians. Our study demonstrated the relevance of a profound knowledge of the local history and context to understand the role of the various social identities for the groups in Uzbekistan.

How all students can belong and achieve: Effects of the cultural diversity climate amongst students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background in Germany.

As schools are becoming more culturally diverse, it is crucial to understand how they can approach this diversity in ways that allow all students to feel included and do well. We focus on the manifestation of two related but distinct approaches to cultural diversity, namely equality and inclusion (i.e., promoting positive intergroup contact) and cultural pluralism (i.e., embracing students’ diverse cultural backgrounds as a resource), in the perceived classroom climate. Specifically, we test a model in which the link of cultural diversity climate at school and student outcomes (achievement, academic self-concept and general life satisfaction) is mediated by sense of school belonging, both at the individual and classroom level. Analyses are based on 1,971 students (61% of immigrant background; Mage = 11.53, SDage = 0.73, 52% male) in 88 culturally diverse classrooms in southwest Germany after their first year at secondary school. Individual- and classroom-level results suggest that both perceived equality and inclusion as well as cultural pluralism are positively associated with outcomes and this link is mediated by school belonging. There were no differences in the effects of (perceived) cultural diversity climate and school belonging between students of immigrant and nonimmigrant background, suggesting that dealing with cultural diversity in a constructive way is beneficial for all students attending multiethnic schools.

Contextualized positive youth development: A SWOT analysis.

An attempt is made to integrate the previous chapters of the book on Positive Youth Development (PYD). The integration takes the form of a SWOT analysis. It is argued that the main strengths of PYD literature are its study of positive aspects of youth development (in contrast to the more common deficiency-based approaches) and its attention for contextual factors, cross-cultural issues such as the delineation of universal and culture-specific aspects of PYD. The main weakness is the scarcity of models that link individuals and their environment; contextual analyses are usually ad hoc and not based on a model of the environment, such as developmentally relevant classifications of countries. The main opportunities are the extension of current models of PYD in a cross-cultural context, as amply illustrated in various chapters of this volume. The main weaknesses of the extant literature on PYD are its Western dominance and exclusive focus on positive aspects, thereby possibly neglecting negative consequences of adverse conditions.