Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts

Civic and political participation (CPP) is often routinely operationalized through the same questions, as can be found in many related studies. While questions can be adapted in accordance with the research purposes, their psychometric properties are rarely addressed. This study examines the potenti...

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Main Authors: Ekaterina Enchikova, Tiago Neves, Sam Mejias, Veronika Kalmus, Elvira Cicognani, Pedro D. Ferreira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2019-02-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2019.00010/full
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author Ekaterina Enchikova
Tiago Neves
Sam Mejias
Veronika Kalmus
Elvira Cicognani
Pedro D. Ferreira
author_facet Ekaterina Enchikova
Tiago Neves
Sam Mejias
Veronika Kalmus
Elvira Cicognani
Pedro D. Ferreira
author_sort Ekaterina Enchikova
collection DOAJ
description Civic and political participation (CPP) is often routinely operationalized through the same questions, as can be found in many related studies. While questions can be adapted in accordance with the research purposes, their psychometric properties are rarely addressed. This study examines the potential methodological problems in the measurement of CPP, such as the conflict between construct validity and measurement invariance, as well as unequal item functioning between some groups of people. We use the Rasch model to test 18 CPP questions for their relevance for the European youth population and to study differential item functioning between groups based on (1) age, (2) gender, (3) economic satisfaction, and (4) country of living. We discovered that CPP questions are strongly connected with the cultural and social context and can discriminate against some groups of people. The results demonstrate the need to develop more culturally responsive methods to study CPP and the paper offers suggestions on how to do so.
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spelling doaj.art-d3dcf39cf9e141eb8cd8d002786a77322022-12-22T02:27:34ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2019-02-01410.3389/feduc.2019.00010427925Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social ContextsEkaterina Enchikova0Tiago Neves1Sam Mejias2Veronika Kalmus3Elvira Cicognani4Pedro D. Ferreira5Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalFaculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalDepartment of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United KingdomInstitute of Social Studies, University of Tartu, Tartu, EstoniaDepartment of Psychology, University of Bologna, Bologna, ItalyFaculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, PortugalCivic and political participation (CPP) is often routinely operationalized through the same questions, as can be found in many related studies. While questions can be adapted in accordance with the research purposes, their psychometric properties are rarely addressed. This study examines the potential methodological problems in the measurement of CPP, such as the conflict between construct validity and measurement invariance, as well as unequal item functioning between some groups of people. We use the Rasch model to test 18 CPP questions for their relevance for the European youth population and to study differential item functioning between groups based on (1) age, (2) gender, (3) economic satisfaction, and (4) country of living. We discovered that CPP questions are strongly connected with the cultural and social context and can discriminate against some groups of people. The results demonstrate the need to develop more culturally responsive methods to study CPP and the paper offers suggestions on how to do so.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2019.00010/fullcivic participationpolitical participationmeasurement invarianceRaschDIF
spellingShingle Ekaterina Enchikova
Tiago Neves
Sam Mejias
Veronika Kalmus
Elvira Cicognani
Pedro D. Ferreira
Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
Frontiers in Education
civic participation
political participation
measurement invariance
Rasch
DIF
title Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
title_full Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
title_fullStr Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
title_full_unstemmed Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
title_short Civic and Political Participation of European Youth: Fair Measurement in Different Cultural and Social Contexts
title_sort civic and political participation of european youth fair measurement in different cultural and social contexts
topic civic participation
political participation
measurement invariance
Rasch
DIF
url https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/feduc.2019.00010/full
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