Conducting experiments on cultural aspects of document design: Why and how?

Abstract

In order to answer the question whether it is wise to adapt a document to the culture it is to be used in, one can conduct an experiment with ‘cultural difference’ as one of the main variables. In this article, we discuss three problems that researchers encounter when conducting such experiments. First, employing ‘nationality’ to operationalize cultural differences leads to interpretation problems when differences in responses occurs. Cultures differ from each other on a large number of dimensions. Each dimension constitutes an alternative explanation for any difference in response between members from different cultures. Second, it is difficult to construct In order to answer the question whether it is wise to adapt a document to the culture it is to be used in, one can conduct an experiment with ‘cultural difference’ as one of the main variables. In this article, we discuss three problems that researchers encounter when conducting such experiments. First, employing ‘nationality’ to operationalize cultural differences leads to interpretation problems when differences in responses occurs. Cultures differ from each other on a large number of dimensions. Each dimension constitutes an alternative explanation for any difference in response between members from different cultures. Second, it is difficult to construct documents and measurement instruments that are equivalent in all cultures included in a survey. The question is whether documents can have equivalent meanings, and whether questionnaires measure the same concept in two or more cultures. Third, members of certain cultures are reluctant to use the ends of rating scales, whereas members of other cultures use them freely. For each of these problems, we present solutions. use the ends of rating scales, whereas members of other cultures use them freely. For each of these problems, we present solutions.