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The Issue Of Measurement Invariance Revisited

University of Ottawa

David Watkins

University of Hong Kong

The purposes of this study were twofold: (a) based on the analysis of covariance structures, to test for the equivalence of a well-known measuring instrument across two culturally diverse groups and (b) provided with findings of nonequivalent items, to identify possible determinants of their noninvariance; post hoc investigations included tests for evidence of item bias using an ANOVA-based approach and examination of graphical displays of item response and distributional patterns. Example data comprised item responses to the four nonacademic subscales of the Self Description Questionnaire I (SDQ-I) for Australian (N = 497) and Nigerian (N = 439) adolescents. Despite similarly specified and well-fitting factor structures for both cultural groups, findings revealed evidence of both measurement and structural noninvariance. Results underscore previous caveats regarding interpretation of instrument equivalence; they add also to the growing body of skepticism that queries whether measuring instruments can ever be totally equivalent when used in cross-cultural comparisons.

Key Words: multigroup invariance • structural equation modeling • cross-cultural comparisons • self description questionnaire

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 34, No. 2, 155-175 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0022022102250225


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