Crosscultural Journal Article

The purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate a cross-cultural journal article, discussing both its positive aspects and problems. Choose an article from the list provided below.

Discuss two key problems of the paper. Identify the problems and clearly explain why you think they are problematic. For each problem you identified, write about how to remedy it and how this remedy would improve the study.

Discuss two positive aspects of the paper. Identify and explain why you think these aspects are positive.

The paper should be 4 to 5 pages (double spaced, 12 point font). Contrary to what is stated on the syllabus, you will not have to worry about APA format. Remember to identify in the paper the article you are critiquing.

Requirements for Cross-Cultural Journal Article Research Paper:

1. Identification and explanation of two problems
2. Remedies for the two problems
3. Identification and explanation of two positive aspects
4. 4-5pages, double spaced, 12 point font

This is the article to be reviewed:
Wu, S., & Keysar. (2007). The effect of culture on perspective taking. Psychological Science, 18, 600-606.

The use of the textbook "Culture and Psychology" could be helpful. The ISBN is: 049509787X. Please do not use any other references.

Cross-Cultural Journal Article Research Paper:

Introduction: The introduction consists of a description of background information (previous studies that inspired the present study) and a presentation of hypotheses (predictions of results). The hypotheses includes of predictions of the relationship between the variables being tested.

When reading the introduction you can ask yourself: Are the hypothesis and or variables meaningful in all cultures?

Methods: The methods section consists of a brief description of participants' characteristics, the measures (questionnaires or other measures assessing variable of interest), and the procedures used by the experimenter.

When reading the method you can ask yourself: Are the participants, measures, and procedures equivalent (linguistic, measurement, procedural, sampling) in all cultures? Did the authors establish equivalence?

Some more detailed questions:

1. Are the participants equivalent for comparison purposes - no other characteristics or demographic confounds? (confounds refer to variables such as SES or religion that could influence the results)
2. Are the concepts being measured equivalent in all cultures in the study?
3. Do the scales, sub scales, and items being used have the same reliability
   and validity characteristics in all cultures in the study?
4. Are the scales/constructs contextualized meaningfully for all participants?
5. Do participants come to the laboratory or complete testing procedures with equivalent expectations?
6. Did the researchers establish linguistic equivalence in their methods and research protocols by using back-translation procedures?

Results: The results section consists of tests of the hypothesis using statistical analyses (such as t-tests and ANOVAs, which compare the means between two groups or correlation/regression, which examine the relationship between variables). There usually is also a statement of whether the hypothesis was supported or not.

1. When reading the results you can ask yourself: Could there be problems related to response bias or effect size?
2. Do the researchers take adequate steps to check for cultural response sets, and control them if necessary?

Discussion or Conclusion: The discussion section consists of a summary of the results of the study. The authors then provide an interpretation of the findings (why they think they obtained the results that they did). They also provide a list of limitations to their study (please note: the limitations the authors state may be similar to what you thought were the limitations of the study. In that case, you have to go beyond what the authors state in the paper. Also at least one of the problems you identify must be different from the ones the authors state).

When reading the discussion/conclusion section you can ask yourself: Could there be problems related to cause-effect interpretation or cultural attribution fallacy? (attributing the cause of the different between two groups as being due to a certain aspect of culture, such as individualism-collectivism, when this aspect was not measured in the study).

Questions For Cross-Cultural Journal Article

1. Do the researchers take adequate steps to check for cultural response sets, and control them if necessary?
2. Do the researchers make unwarranted cause-effect interpretations of the
   relationship between culture and their target variables?
3. Are the interpretations of cultural mediators justified in relation to how
   culture was operationalized in the study? (or did they commit the cultural attribution fallacy)
4. Are there sufficient methodological concerns to preclude any meaningful
   conclusions based on the data presented?