ABSTRACT

What is one to make of sample differences? An error term is usually defined as a non-concordance between a hypothetical construct and the operational definition of variable. Do we attribute our error terms to translations which resulted in different meanings of the variables in different samples, different kinds of respondents selected from the several cultures, or actual differences in average response levels representing cultural differences in demographic, family or peer characteristics? We propose to examine error in terms of its cultural specific aspects to see if we can reduce unaccounted variance or error term for our measures of adjustment.