Suchergebnisse

Im letzten Jahrzehnt sind viele europäische Länder von einer beträchtlichen Zuwanderung betroffen gewesen, begleitet von negativen Einstellungen der Majorität gegenüber den Immigranten. Wir schlagen vor, dass Werte eine wichtige Determinante solcher negativen Einstellungen sind, und erklären die Variation in der Stärke der Effekte von Werten in den einzelnen Ländern. Auf der Grundlage der Theorie grundlegender menschlicher Werte von Schwartz (1992, 1994) nehmen wir an, dass Universalismus Werte zu positiver Einstellung gegenüber der Zuwanderung führen werden; im Gegensatz dazu führen Konformität und Tradition zu immigrationsfeindlichen Gefühlen. Wir nehmen ferner an, dass diese Wirkungen von Werten durch zwei Kontext-Variablen moderiert werden. Beide Effekte von Werten sind niedriger in Ländern mit einem höheren Grad von kultureller Einbettung, und weiter, negative Effekte der Werte-Konformität und Tradition werden vermutlich durch einen niedrigen Anteil von Immigranten in einem Land gedämpft. Eine Mehrebenen-Analyse mit Daten von 24 Ländern der vierten Welle des European Social Survey (2008 bis 2009) stützen diese Hypothesen. Darüber hinaus zeigen wir, dass die Messeigenschaften der theoretischen Konstrukte über die Länder hinweg äquivalent sind und deshalb die statistischen Vergleiche rechtfertigen.

Multiple group confirmatory factor analysis has become the most common technique for assessing measurement invariance. However, higher-order factor modeling is less frequently discussed in this context. In particular, the literature provides only very general guidelines for testing measurement invariance of second-order factor models, which is a prerequisite for conducting meaningful comparative research using higher-order factors. The current paper attempts to fill this gap. First, we explicate the constraints required for identification of the invariance levels in a multiple group second-order factor model. Second, in addition to the conventional interpretation of the results of this assessment, we suggest an alternative view on the invariance properties of a second-order factor as evidence of structural rather than measurement invariance. Third, we present an empirical application of the test which builds on Seeman's alienation scale and utilizes data from eight countries collected in 2008-2009. We found empirical support for metric invariance of both the firstand second-order factors, but no support for scalar invariance of the first- and second-order factors. However, we find pairs of countries where scalar invariance for both the first- and second-order factors is supported by the data. We finalize with a discussion of the results and their interpretation.

Determining whether people in certain countries score differently in measurements of interest or whether concepts relate differently to each other across nations can indisputably assist in testing theories and advancing our sociological knowledge. However, meaningful comparisons of means or relationships between constructs within and across nations require equivalent measurements of these constructs. This is especially true for subjective attributes such as values, attitudes, opinions, or behavior. In this review, we first discuss the concept of cross-group measurement equivalence, look at possible sources of nonequivalence, and suggest ways to prevent it. Next, we examine the social science methodological literature for ways to empirically test for measurement equivalence. Finally, we consider what may be done when equivalence is not supported by the data and conclude with a review of recent developments that offer exciting directions and solutions for future research in cross-national measurement equivalence assessment.

Because of their higher status, members of national majorities (e.g., linguistic, ethnic, or religious) are likely to develop a stronger sense of ownership of the nation than members of national minorities (Sidanius, Feshbach, Levin, & Pratto, 1997), which is reflected in a stronger attachment to the nation as a whole (e.g., Staerkle, Sidanius, Green, & Molina, 2010). Accordingly, members of national majorities are expected to hold a stricter conception of nationhood, that is, to be stricter regarding who should or should not belong to the national community (Kunovich, 2009). Based on data from two large surveys (European Social Survey [ESS] 2002 and International Social Survey Programme [ISSP] 2003), the present study tests this expectation by comparing conceptions of nationhood across the two largest linguistic subnational groups in Switzerland. However, observed differences between the groups can either reflect substantive differences or result from measurement artifacts, as distinctive features of the subnational groups (e.g., different languages; Davidov & De Beuckelaer, 2010) may impact the measurement itself. Therefore, measurement equivalence should be tested for before undertaking substantive mean comparisons (e.g., Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1998). Although measurement equivalence testing is frequently carried out in cross-national studies (e.g., Davidov, 2009; Reeskens & Hooghe, 2010), it is rarely established when comparing data drawn from distinct national subgroups within countries (see, however, Billiet, 2003; Billiet, Maddens, & Beerten, 2003). Thus, this study has both a substantive and a methodological rationale: Beyond testing the assumption that members of national majorities hold a stricter conception of nationhood than members of national minorities, it aims at illustrating the necessary steps of analysis -- using exploratory and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses -- for conducting valid latent mean comparisons across subnational groups. Adapted from the source document.

Testing for invariance of measurements across groups (such as countries o r time points) is
essential before meaningful comparisons may be conducted. However, when tested, invariance is often absent. As a result, comparisons across groups are potentially problematic and may be
biased. In the current study, we propose utilizing a multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM)
approach to provide a framework to explain item bias. We show how variation in a contextual
variable may explain non invariance. For the illustration of the method, we use data from the
second round of the European Social Survey (ESS). (author's abstract)

For decades, social scientists have been interested in studying individual attitudes toward ethnic minorities or immigrants and their development over time. Whereas these attitudes have been commonly studied among adults, little is known about children's and teenager's attitudes toward immigrant minorities. This gap might have been a result of a lack of standardized, cost-effective, and efficient large-scale survey measures tailored to young people. In the current study, we try to overcome this gap by introducing and validating a new, child-friendly, easily administrable picture-based survey measure of attitudes toward immigrants belonging to two ethnic minorities: blacks and Muslims. For this purpose, we collected a panel dataset at three measurement time points in two countries, Switzerland and Poland, including 5332 school children and teenagers aged 8 to 19 years, divided into three age cohorts. We performed confirmatory factor analyses within and across the samples and found that the new picture-based measures were reliable and highly comparable across measurement time points, age cohorts, and country samples. The findings suggest that picture-based measures may be a promising tool to measure attitudes among children.+++Correction to: Measuring school children's attitudes toward immigrants in Switzerland and Poland, s. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42409-021-00024-9 (14 April 2021).

Immigration has been one of the most crucial global phenomena, changing the fabric of many societies, and a topic of substantial research. Much of this research has focused on how the host society views immigrants and immigration, or on the societal factors influencing the latter. The goal of this thematic issue is to present different studies focusing on various aspects of immigration from a perspective that has not been often viewed under the magnifying glass so far, but which is of major importance: looking at immigration from the immigrants' point of view.

"Schwartz' theory of ten basic human values has stimulated numerous studies using a variety of instruments. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) of the properties of some of the instruments have revealed that three pairs of values were excessively highly correlated. This led Davidov et al. (2008) to propose unifying values. To overcome the problems of loss of precision due to unifying distinct values, Knoppen and Saris (2009a, b) investigated the factorial structure of each of the ten values measured with the PVQ (Schwartz et al. 2001). They identified both cross-loadings and distinct sub-dimensions for the pairs of nondiscriminated values in two German student samples. They concluded that the original strategy for selecting items, maximizing theoretical coverage at the expense of item homogeneity, produced the poor discrimination between values. The Study 1 examines whether the Knoppen and Saris findings generalize to a representative sample of the German population. With some notable exceptions, the author's findings replicate theirs. Study 2 uses 33 items from an experimental version of the PVQ to operationalize and test a full model of the 11 basic values. Following Knoppen and Saris, they included only one sub-dimension of each of the 11 values. This CFA model yielded a satisfactory fit with no estimation problems. The authors conclude that available indicators permit measuring the distinct values without the need to collapse factors. Limitations and implications of the research are discussed." (author's abstract)

Zusammenfassung: In zwei Stichproben wird eine deutschsprachige 40-Item Version des "Portraits Value Questionnaire" (PVQ) validiert; in einer dritten Stichprobe (European Social Survey) wird eine verkürzte Version mit 21 Items dieses Werteinventars validiert. Bei dem PVQ handelt es sich um ein von Shalom Schwartz neu entwickeltes Instrument zur Überprüfung seiner Theorie grundlegender menschlicher Werte. Die Aufgabenstellung des PVQ unterscheidet sich konzeptionell deutlich von der des bisher verwendeten Standardinstrumentes "Schwartz Value Survey" (SVS). Das neue Instrument ist besonders für Probanden mit mittlerer und niedriger Schulbildung geeignet. Unsere Ergebnisse belegen die instrumentenunabhängige Validität der von Schwartz postulierten Wertetheorie. Der Vergleich mit dem SVS belegt die konvergente und diskriminante Validität der mit dem PVQ gemessenen zehn Wertetypen. Auch die vorhergesagten Beziehungen der Wertetypen mit zwei externen Konstrukten belegen die Konstruktvalidität des PVQ. In einer konfirmatorischen Faktorenanalyse wird die postulierte Zahl der unterschiedlichen Werte nicht bestätigt, da neun statt zehn Werte als empirisch angemessen erscheinen. Eine externe Validierung mit den Daten des repräsentativen European Social Survey in Deutschland durch eine konfirmatorische Faktorenanalyse (jedoch nur mit 21 Items) hat die Schwartz'sche Werteskala weitgehend bestätigt, allerdings mussten sechs der zehn Wertetypen zu dreien zusammengefasst werden.