Cross-Cultural Sources of Measurement Error in Substance Use Surveys

Abstract

We present an overview of the cross-cultural quality of surveyreports of substance use behaviors in the United States. Empiricaldata from 36 published studies (1977–2003) are examined to evaluatethe reliability and validity of substance use reports across culturalgroups. In these studies, race/ethnicity are used as proxy indicators ofrespondent culture. In general, the available research suggests that,with a few exceptions, the quality of survey data on racial andethnic disparities in substance use is often limited by differentialmeasurement error. A conceptual paradigm is presented to considera wide range of potential causes for these differences in measurementerror that includes two dimensions: emphasis on negative vs. positivebehavior patterns, and emphasis on internal vs. external causalfactors. These two dimensions yield four potential models that areuseful in understanding variations in substance use measurementerror: the cultural deficit model, the cultural conflict model, the mainstreamconformitymodel, and the cultural distrust model. Futureresearch should focus on the ability of each of these alternativemodels to account for cultural variability in the quality of substanceuse reporting.