Conceptualizing and measuring culture : rethinking invariance assessment as a crucial process for cultural research
Event Title
International Interdisciplinary Conference: Advances in Comparative Culturology
Location
MBG06, Lam Woo Lecture Theatre, Patrick Lee Wan Keung Academic Building, Lingnan University
Start Date
15-5-2025 4:15 PM
End Date
15-5-2025 4:45 PM
Language
English
Description
Culture is a construct that cannot be directly observed but has to be inferred. Anthropology has long emphasized the meaning making process for understanding culture, yet this important insight has been sidelined in survey-based cross-cultural studies. Researchers typically pose questions and then interpret selected statistical parameters from cross-cultural data. The interpretation of parameters that were constrained via researcher-posed questions crucially obscures the meaning making process used by respondents. To bring meaning-making back into the study of culture, I outline a broad invariance assessment process differentiating five stages of inquiry that apply to most research projects. I briefly outline cognitive theories of survey responding and meaning-making and show how they link to my invariance questions. I present examples to illustrate novel insights about culture as a multi-level concept that can be gained through this process. My main argument is that analysis of culture requires renewed focus on meaning making processes by individuals embedded in different social, economic, ecological and technological contexts. Invariance assessment in the broad sense outlined here is a central element in such an endeavor.
Document Type
Presentation
Recommended Citation
Fischer, R. (2025, May 15). Conceptualizing and measuring culture: Rethinking invariance assessment as a crucial process for cultural research. Presented at the International Interdisciplinary Conference: Advances in Comparative Culturology, Lingnan University, Hong Kong.
Conceptualizing and measuring culture : rethinking invariance assessment as a crucial process for cultural research
MBG06, Lam Woo Lecture Theatre, Patrick Lee Wan Keung Academic Building, Lingnan University
Culture is a construct that cannot be directly observed but has to be inferred. Anthropology has long emphasized the meaning making process for understanding culture, yet this important insight has been sidelined in survey-based cross-cultural studies. Researchers typically pose questions and then interpret selected statistical parameters from cross-cultural data. The interpretation of parameters that were constrained via researcher-posed questions crucially obscures the meaning making process used by respondents. To bring meaning-making back into the study of culture, I outline a broad invariance assessment process differentiating five stages of inquiry that apply to most research projects. I briefly outline cognitive theories of survey responding and meaning-making and show how they link to my invariance questions. I present examples to illustrate novel insights about culture as a multi-level concept that can be gained through this process. My main argument is that analysis of culture requires renewed focus on meaning making processes by individuals embedded in different social, economic, ecological and technological contexts. Invariance assessment in the broad sense outlined here is a central element in such an endeavor.
Additional Information
Speaker
Ronald FISCHER (Institute D'Or for Research and Education, Brazil)
Ronald Fischer works in the Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroinformatics Unit at D'Or Institute for Research & Education, Brazil and the Pioneer Science Initiative. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society NZ Te Aparangi and the Association for Psychological Science. His research focuses on cultural and evolutionary dynamics of values, beliefs, personality and wellbeing. Currently, he leads a number of international projects on the nature of experiences that are variably classified as extraordinary, transcendental or paranormal, with a particular focus on the sense-making processes by the individuals that experience them as well as their impact on mental health within and across cultures. He has published more than 150 articles and book chapters, has been named as one of the top 10 most highly cited researchers on culture and psychology and has received international research awards from the Academy of Management, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues and the International Association for Intercultural Research. He serves as the Editor in Chief of Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, a new transdisciplinary journal aiming to shed new perspectives on human behavior in context and also serves on the editorial boards of a range of journals in psychology, business and related disciplines.