Measurement Equivalence Across Subnational Groups: An Analysis of the Conception of Nationhood in Switzerland

Because of their higher status, members of national majorities (e.g., linguistic, ethnic, or religious) are likely to develop a stronger sense of ownership of the nation than members of national minorities (Sidanius, Feshbach, Levin, Pratto, 1997), which is reflected in a stronger attachment to the nation as a whole (e.g., Staerklé, Sidanius, Green, Molina, 2010). Accordingly, members of national majorities are expected to hold a stricter conception of nationhood, that is to be stricter regarding who should or should not belong to the national community (Kunovich, 2009). Based on data from two large surveys (European Social Survey [ESS] 2002, International Social Survey Programme [ISSP] 2003), the present study tests this expectation by comparing conceptions of nationhood across the two largest linguistic subnational groups in Switzerland. However, observed differences between the groups can either reflect substantive differences or result from measurement artifacts, as distinctive features of the subnational groups (e.g., different languages; Davidov De Beuckelaer, 2010) may impact the measurement itself. Therefore, measurement equivalence should be tested for before undertaking substantive mean comparisons (e.g., Steenkamp Baumgartner, 1998). While measurement equivalence testing is frequently carried out in cross-national studies (e.g., Davidov, 2009; Reeskens Hooghe, 2010), it is rarely established when comparing data drawn from distinct national subgroups within countries (see, however, Billiet, 2003; Billiet, Maddens, Beerten, 2003). Thus, this study has both a substantive and a methodological rationale: Beyond testing the assumption that members of national majorities hold a stricter conception of nationhood than members of national minorities, it aims at illustrating the necessary steps of analysis–using exploratory and multigroup confirmatory factor analyses–for conducting valid latent mean comparisons across subnational groups. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/eds033 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-66834 Accepted Version Originally published at: Sarrasin, Oriane; Green, Eva G T; Berchtold, André; Davidov, Eldad (2013). Measurement equivalence across subnational groups: an analysis of the conception of nationhood in Switzerland. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 25(4):522-534. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ijpor/eds033 Measurement Equivalence Across Subnational Groups: An Analysis of the Conception of Nationhood in Switzerland Oriane Sarrasin, Eva G. T. Green, André Berchtold Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne Eldad Davidov University of Zurich, Institute of Sociology, Switzerland This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in the International Journal of Public Opinion Research following peer review. It was first published online in this journal on October 18, 2012. The definitive publisherauthenticated version is available online at: http://ijpor.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2012/10/18/ijpor.eds033 or under doi: 10.1093/ijpor/eds033