Abstract

It is often assumed that the scores of two or more cultural groups on a certain scale can be compared in a direct and straightforward way. Such a degree of equivalence however cannot readily be assumed but needs to be established. In this article, it is evaluated to what extent the scores of French speaking and Dutch speaking Belgians on an abbreviated F-scale can be compared to each other. The results show that the French and the Dutch scale measure the same latent concept, but that two of the items of the scale are subject to cross-cultural bias. This bias is however relatively small and hence of little importance. Therefore it is concluded that, provided there is no method bias, the scores of both language groups on the abbreviated authoritarianism scale can be compared in a direct manner and that the conclusion that the French speaking respondents are more authoritarian than the Dutch speaking respondents is justified.

How to Cite:

Welkenhuysen-Gybels, J., (1998) “Cross-cultureel onderzoek: methodologische problemen bij de toepassing van een verkorte F-schaal in Franstalig en Nederlandstalig België”, Tijdschrift voor Sociologie 19(4), 449–472. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86459