ABSTRACT
In conducting cross-cultural research, it is imperative that researchers examine the assessment instruments they are using for any problematic translations/adaptations.1 In particular, when there is interest in comparing test results obtained from different cultures, researchers should investigate the assessment instruments they are using for construct, method, and item bias (see, e.g., van de Vijver & Leung,
1997; van de Vijver & Tanzer, 1997). For if such biases exist and are not identified, comparative inferences across cultures will not be valid. For this reason, the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education, 1999) and the Guidelines for Adapting Educational and Psychological Tests (see chap. 1, this volume) require cross-cultural researchers to provide evidence of the comparability of different language versions of an assessment when scores from the different versions are intended to be comparable.
