ABSTRACT
Probably the most ignored assumption in the social and behavioral sciences is the assumption that measures are observed without error. This chapter introduces the correction for measurement error in measurement equivalence testing, and illustrates data from the European Social Survey. Measurement equivalence is tested with measurement invariance tests. The standard procedure tests between-group constraints on the factor model using multiple group structural equation modeling analysis. The chapter explores how to implement correction for measurement error in measurement invariance testing and how to evaluate measurement invariance models with JRule. It explores this by testing whether generalized social trust (GST) and political trust (PT) are invariant across Europe. GST and PT are often studied together in the context of social capital. There are two general approaches to test for measurement invariance, the top-down approach and the bottom-up approach.
