Construct Equivalence of Left-Right Scale Placement in a Cross-National Perspective

Abstract

Equivalence in survey design and implementation is a core issue in cross-national research. Construct equivalence deals with the validity of concepts measured by survey questions and is a prerequisite for meaningful cross-national analyses. Since respondents are socialized in different cultures and political systems, their interpretation of concepts in the same way cannot be taken for granted. This study is about the construct equivalence of the left-right scale from a cross-national perspective. The left-right scale is a standard survey question used to measure ideological orientation in a minimalist way. However, ideological orientation may be measured in different dimensions from cross-national perspective, and thus, the conceptual understanding of the left-right scale as an indicator of the left-right dimension may differ across countries, which may challenge the comparability and the cross-national validity of the left-right scale. To test the understanding of left and right, we asked about individual associations by using probe questions in a cross-national survey. We checked for nonresponse and shared and country-specific explanations of left and right. Our results show that respondents from different countries or with different political orientations do not have the same ideas about left and right. For leftist respondents, shared explanations of left are more relevant, whereas for rightists, country-specific interpretations of right are more influential. These results challenge the cross-national usability of the left-right scale, and so conclusions based on this scale may not be comparable.