anti-Causality


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Emic and Etic approaches to assessment


Two words that I have found that describe how assessment tests are applied in the cultural context are etic and emic.  These describe looking at culture as an insider, which is emic, or as an outsider, which is etic (Lett, 2008).  Emic testing would then be deliberately based on a culture, and assessment would presumably have to do with issues pertaining to that culture.  Etic testing would then attempt to apply testing, presumably developed in and normed for one culture, to another culture.  To do so fairly, the testing results would have to be normed, but it may be better to attempt to redesign the test so that it equally applies to all cultures.  Many believe that no widely applicable and fully fair etic tests actually exist.

An example of an etic test being applied outside of the culture in which it was created would be the crystallized memory portion of an intelligence test, as it relies on vocabulary (Neukrug, 2010).  Someone from another culture might not have the same vocabulary usage as used to create the test, even if they speak the same language but with regional differences (Dana, 2000).  Also, parental educational support which might be linked to parent education and financial resource availability, might influence vocabulary testing outcomes.  However, along with new testing paradigms for neurological problems, such as ADHD, has come a variety of tests specifically for working memory, which is closely related to executive function, and hence some of the factors of  intelligence.  It is said that working memory tests are actually impervious to cultural biases, such as language, and environmental biases, such as family finances (Alloway, 2009; Alloway & Alloway, 2010).  It may be that the future etic testing is really at the neurological level so that potentials and problems can be assessed, rather than early successes.  Emic testing would then be applied within cultural or regional contexts so as to resolve problems in their own right.


References

Alloway, T. P. (2009). Working memory, but not IQ, predicts subsequent learning in children with learning difficulties. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 25. Retrieved from http://www.cogmed.com/working-memory-but-not-iq-predicts-subsequent-learning-in-children-with-learning-difficulties

Alloway, T. P., & Alloway, R. (2010). Working memory: Is it the new IQ? Nature Precedings

Dana, R. H. (2000). Handbook of cross-cultural and multicultural personality assessment. Mahwah, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lett, J. (2008). Emic/etic distinctions. Retreived from http://faculty.irsc.edu/FACULTY/JLett/Article%20on%20Emics%20and%20Etics.htmhttp://faculty.irsc.edu/FACULTY/JLett/Article%20on%20Emics%20and%20Etics.htm

Neukrug, E. (2010). Essentials of testing and assessment: A practical guide for counselors, social workers, and psychologists. Australia Belmont, CA: Thomson/Brooks/Cole.

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