Comparing Likert Scale Functionality across Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Groups in Science Education Research: An Illustration Using Qatari Students' Responses to an Attitude toward Science Survey

Autor/inn/en	Summers, Ryan; Wang, Shuai; Abd-El-Khalick, Fouad; Said, Ziad
Titel	Comparing Likert Scale Functionality across Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Groups in Science Education Research: An Illustration Using Qatari Students' Responses to an Attitude toward Science Survey
Quelle	In: International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 17 (2019) 5, S.885-903 (19 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Summers, Ryan)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1571-0068
DOI	10.1007/s10763-018-9889-8
Schlagwörter	Foreign Countries; Science Education; Elementary School Students; Secondary School Students; Cultural Differences; Language Usage; English; Semitic Languages; Student Surveys; Translation; Test Validity; Test Construction; Student Attitudes; Qatar + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ausland; Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Sekundarschüler; Kultureller Unterschied; Sprachgebrauch; English language; Englisch; Arabisch; Hebräisch; Schülerbefragung; Testvalidität; Testaufbau; Schülerverhalten; Katar
Abstract	Surveying is a common methodology in science education research, including cross-national and cross-cultural comparisons. The literature surrounding students' attitudes toward science, in particular, illustrates the prevalence of efforts to translate instruments with the eventual goal of comparing groups. This paper utilizes survey data from a nationally representative cross-sectional study of Qatari students in grades 3 through 12 to frame a discussion around the adequacy and extent to which common adaptations allow comparisons to be made among linguistically or culturally different respondents. The analytic sample contained 2615 students who responded to a previously validated 32-item instrument, 1704 of whom completed the survey in Modern Standard Arabic and 911 in English. The purpose of using these data is to scrutinize variation in the performance of the instrument between groups of respondents as determined by language of survey completion and cultural heritage. Multi-group confirmatory factor analysis was employed to investigate issues of validity associated with the performance of the survey with each group and to evaluate the appropriateness of using this instrument to make simultaneous comparisons across the distinct groups. Findings underscore the limitations of group comparability that may persist even when issues of translation and adaptation were heavily attended to during instrument development. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01