Disentangling the effects of culture and language on measurement noninvariance in cross-cultural research: The culture, comprehension, and translation bias (CCT) procedure.

Comparability of measurement across different cultural groups is an essential prerequisite for any cross-cultural assessment. However, cross-cultural measurement invariance is rarely achieved and detecting the source of noninvariance is often challenging. In particular, when different language versions of a measure are administered to different cultural groups, noninvariance on certain items may originate either from translation inconsistencies (translation bias) or from actual differences between cultural groups (culture bias). If, on the other hand, a measure is administered in a common language version (e.g., English), item noninvariance may also result from comprehension issues of nonnative speakers (comprehension bias). Here, we outline a procedure suitable for dissociating these sources of item noninvariance, termed the culture, comprehension, and translation bias (CCT) procedure. The CCT procedure is based on a between-subjects design comparing samples from two different cultures who complete a measure in either the same or a different language version. We demonstrate in a simulation study and illustrate in an empirical example with actual cross-cultural data how performing multiple pairwise comparisons across (a) groups differing in culture but not in language, (b) groups differing in language but not in culture, and (c) groups differing in both culture and language allows to pinpoint the source of item noninvariance with high specificity. The CCT procedure thus provides a valuable tool for improving cross-cultural assessment through directing the process of item translation and cultural adaptation. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).