A Comparison of a Subjective and Statistical Method for Establishing Score Comparability in an Organizational Culture Survey

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to compare the results of a subjective and a statistical method of detecting non-comparable items in 14 language-translated forms of a survey measuring organizational culture.

Design/Methodology/Approach

Data were obtained from a large multinational organization using a 60-item organizational culture survey. Each of 14 language-translated forms were administered to members of their respective language groups and compared to the original English (United States) form. Subjective reviews were conducted using fluent bilingual organizational members whom flagged items they did not believe were comparable. Statistical analyses using an item response theory (IRT) approach were used to detect problematic items from 14 samples with sizes ranging from 304 to 3,014. Detection patterns from these two approaches were compared.

Findings

The subjective approach identified far less items as problematic and did not agree with the statistical approach.

Implications

Our results suggest that the subjective approach as a pre-screening adaptation procedure has little added value over a careful translation/back-translation procedure.

Originality/Value

The use of language-adapted organizational surveys has become increasingly important to multinational organizations. In examining scores from such surveys the establishment of score comparability is essential. IRT analyses are often used to determine whether scores are comparable across language translations. It is also common for subjective reviews of item content to be utilized prior to statistical techniques to determine if the translated items are comparable to the original form. No research known to authors has compared modern statistical and subjective approaches to addressing these issues.     

The Role of Socioeconomic Status in SAT-Grade Relationships and in College Admissions Decisions

This article examines the role of socioeconomic status (SES) in the relationships among college admissions-test scores, secondary school grades, and subsequent academic performance. Scores on the SAT (a test widely used in the admissions process in the United States), secondary school grades, college grades, and SES measures from 143,606 students at 110 colleges and universities were examined, and results of these analyses were compared with results obtained using a 41-school data set including scores from the prior version of the SAT and using University of California data from prior research on the role of SES. In all the data sets, the SAT showed incremental validity over secondary school grades in predicting subsequent academic performance, and this incremental relationship was not substantially affected by controlling for SES. The SES of enrolled students was very similar to that of specific schools' applicant pools, which suggests that the barrier to college for low-SES students in the United States is a lower rate of entering the college admissions process, rather than exclusion on the part of colleges.     

Does enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy for eating disorders improve quality of life?

Quality of life (QOL) is the degree of enjoyment and satisfaction experienced in life, and embraces emotional well-being, physical health, economic and living circumstances, and work satisfaction. QOL recovery with eating disorder treatment has received sparse attention, and until now, no study has investigated QOL recovery with enhanced cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT-E). Patients (n?=?196) admitted to a specialist eating disorders outpatient programme and receiving CBT-E completed measures of QOL, eating disorder psychopathology, depression, anxiety and self-esteem, before and after treatment. QOL at intake was compared with community norms, and QOL below the norm was predicted from sociodemographic and clinical correlates with logistic regression. Baseline QOL below the norm was associated with depression and anxiety Axis I comorbidity, and severity of depressive symptoms. Predictors of post-treatment QOL were baseline QOL and level of depressive symptoms and self-esteem at post-treatment. CBT-E was associated with gains in QOL over the course of treatment, in addition to eating disorder symptom relief. Copyright ? 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.     

A Simulacrum Account of Dispositional Properties

This essay presents a model‐theoretic account of dispositional properties, according to which dispositions are not ordinary properties of real entities; dispositions capture the behavior of abstract, idealized models. This account has several payoffs. First, it saves the simple conditional analysis of dispositions. Second, it preserves the general connection between dispositions and regularities, despite the fact that some dispositions are not grounded in actual regularities. Finally, it brings together the analysis and the explanation of dispositions under a unified framework.     

Face category differentially influences face memories after a delay

ABSTRACT

Faces belonging to the same category as the perceiver are better recognised than faces from different categories when tested immediately. After a delay, the same-category benefit persists and response bias becomes more liberal for other-category but not same-category faces. These effects are typically attributed to better encoding of same-category than other-category faces. To determine whether bias effects after a delay persist when immediate accuracy differences are minimised, Hispanic and Caucasian participants were given more study time for other-category than same-category faces. Memory was tested immediately and after a two-day delay. Discrimination accuracy was higher for other-category than for same-category faces during both test sessions. Bias was equivalent immediately, but after the delay, bias was more conservative for same-category than for other-category faces, especially in Caucasian participants. These results suggest that post-encoding processes differentially influence face memories from different categories, which may have implications for evaluating face memory in everyday situations.