Bias in an adapted version of the 15FQ+ in South Africa

This study addressed the cross-cultural suitability of an adapted version of the Fifteen Factor Questionnaire (15FQ+) in South Africa. Criteria for changes to the items of the original 15FQ+ included comprehension and cultural appropriateness. The instrument was administered in English to a pool of 16 339 participants from all parts of South Africa who had applied for entry-level police jobs in the South African Police Services (SAPS). Bias was studied at construct and item level. A higher level of overall structural equivalence was reported for the adapted version when compared with results found in research with the original version. However, some scales remain problematic. A slight decrease in the number of biased items was also found for the adapted version and it was concluded that item bias is not a major problem in this version. Despite these results pointing to the apparent adequacy of the adaptations, only marginal increases were found in terms of the internal consistencies when compared to the original version and for the black groups, in particular, consistency levels remained low. These low levels of consistency continue to limit the usefulness of the questionnaire.