Resumen de Assessing generalizability of scales used in cross-national research
Subhash Sharma, Danny Weathers
Increased globalization has generated considerable interest in testing theories in other countries that were developed in the United States. A requirement for any cross-national research should be that measures (scales) of constructs are generalizable across countries, and an important related issue is how many items and subjects are needed to generalize the scale across countries. This article discusses the use of generalizability theory (G theory) to assess the extent to which a previously administered scale can be generalized across countries and also to estimate the number of scale items and subjects needed to obtain a desired level of generalizability for future studies. The article further illustrates how G theory can be used in conjunction with a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) framework to provide supplementary evidence of measurement invariance across countries. An empirical illustration of both G theory and the CFA-based framework is provided using data collected from multiple countries. The article concludes with a discussion of the unique benefits of CFA and G theory and suggests that the two techniques should be treated as complementary techniques for assessing measurement invariance and estimating the number of items and subjects needed to generalize the scale across countries.
