Studying the Factorial Structure of Ghanaian Twelfth-Grade Students’ Views on Mathematics

Abstract

Researchers often import and adopt surveys from one cultural setting to another in order to collect comparative data or to simplify the laborious process of instrument development. Even when the instrument has been proven to have high reliability in the original setting, the reliability may prove to be much weaker in the new setting, especially when Western instruments are imported into non-Western countries. In this chapter, we discuss the problems of importing an instrument from one culture to another and associated methodological challenges. More importantly, we present a detailed account of using structural equation modeling (SEM) and MPlus software to validate a survey instrument imported to Ghana. The students’ Views of Mathematics (VOM) instrument is based on earlier Western research and was further developed in Finland, where it had been validated to have high reliability. First, we used confirmatory factor analysis to test whether the seven factors identified in Finland were identifiable in Ghana. As the original factor structure was found not to fit the Ghanaian data, we continued with an explorative approach to identify the Ghanaian factor structure, resulting in a four-factor structure. For cross-validation purposes, the sample was randomly split into two, one-half of the sample assigned as the calibration sample and the other half as the validation sample. Measurement invariance was established at the configural, metric and structural levels between the calibration and validation sample. We further discuss the measurement artifacts and cultural differences as possible causes for the observed differences in the factor structures between the Ghanaian and the Finnish sample.