Self‐report data in cross‐cultural research: issues of construct validity in questionnaires for quantitative research in educational leadership

Abstract

This paper examines issues arising from the use of self‐report questionnaires in cross‐cultural contexts. The research draws from the extensive literature on cross‐cultural leadership in business organizational culture as well as from educational cross‐cultural contexts. It examines claims, drawn from business and educational contexts, that many questionnaires are poorly conceptualized and constructed leading to misleading data and conclusions. Specifically it looks at how questionnaires are constructed, how the roles of researcher and researched are conceptualized and the extent to which research can be seen as ethnocentric or emic. Throughout, it applies the findings to the Gulf‐Arab context. Findings raise questions as to the validity of some cross‐cultural research and implications for the field as a whole. It calls for greater transparency in the research papers of how concepts are derived and matched, samples selected and scales derived and tested. The implications apply not only to the Gulf region but also to wider cross‐cultural research.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andrew Thomas

Andrew Thomas is an Assistant Lecturer in English at Sultan Qaboos University, The Language Centre, Sultan Qaboos University, Box 43, PC 123, Sultanate of Oman. Email: [email protected]. He is currently studying for an Ed.D in Educational Leadership and Management with the University of Leicester, UK, with a focus on cross‐cultural educational leadership and management in tertiary contexts in the Arabian Gulf countries.