Surveying Cultures : Discovering Shared Conceptions and Sentiments

by David R. Heise (Indiana Univ. )

• ISBN13: 9780470575765
• ISBN10: 047057576X
• Format: eBook
• Copyright: 2010-03-01
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Surveying Cultures uniquely employs techniques rooted in survey methodology to discover cultural patterns in social science research. Examining both classical and emerging methods that are used to survey and assess differing norms among populations, the book successfully breaks new ground in the field, introducing a theory of measurement for ethnographic studies that employs the consensus-as-culture model.The book begins with a basic overview of cross-cultural measurement of sentiments and presents innovative and sophisticated analyses of measurement issues and of homogeneity among respondents. Subsequent chapters explore topics that are at the core of successful data collection and analysis in culture studies, including:The role of bipolar scales and Internet data collection in measuring sentimentsKey methodological variables that determine the quality of quantitative data, including measurement errors, validity, and reliabilityNew approaches to reliability and several new methods of assessing a respondent's degree of inculcation into group cultureSampling, coverage, nonresponse, and measurement errors, with an in-depth discussion of their occurrence in culture surveys, their impact assessments, and how current measurement techniques are constructed to help prevent these kinds of errorsCommon problems often encountered in the acquisition and communication of data, including identifying error variances, interpreting gender differences in responses, and defining the difference between cultures and subculturesThroughout the book, each topic is accompanied by a review of related methodological literature. For many of the presented concepts, the author includes a formal analysis of the related issues in measuring cultural norms and reports on analyses. Each chapter concludes with an organized list of major findings as well as an insightful outline of specific recommendations regarding practical problems in culture studies.Surveying Cultures serves as a valuable supplemental book to courses on survey and research methods at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also an excellent reference for researchers in the fields of sociology, anthropology, psychology, and political science.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Surveying Culture

Case Studies of Cultural Surveys

Preview

Chapter Highlights

Measuring Sentiments

Dimensions of Affect

Bipolar Scales

Internet Data Collection

Chapter Highlights

Sentiment Repositories

Early Archives

Cross-Cultural Atlas

Archives Related to Social Interaction

U.S. 2002-2004 Project

Chapter Highlights

Surveys with Vignettes

Factorial Surveys

Impressions from Events

Attribute-Identity Amalgamations

Event Likelihoods

Synopsis

Chapter Highlights

Appendix: Impression-Formation Study Designs

Errors in Surveys

Coverage Errors

Sampling Errors

Nonresponse Errors

Measurement Errors

Other Errors

A Survey-of-Cultures Model

Statistics

Inculcation Index

Commonality Index

Variance Components

Implications

Chapter Highlights

Correlates of Enculturation

Indices

Conduct as a Rater

Predicting Cultural Authoritativeness

Implications

Chapter Highlights

Consensus in Sentiments

Component Analyses

Subcultures

Discussion

Chapter Highlights

Measurement Reliability

Reliabilities Within Stimuli

Reliabilities Across Stimuli

Chapter Highlights

Culture and Surveys

Unique Aspects of Sentiment Surveys

Frameworks for Sentiment Surveys

In Closing

Chapter Highlights

References

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.