Concept and measurement: the cultural borders of meaning

Paper submitted to the Sixth International Conference on Social Science Methodology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, August 16-20, 2004.

ESS is, probably, one of the most significant efforts to improve social survey methodology. No doubt, the “best practices” spirit aims it. In that sense, to put at work extensively the manuals of social survey methodology may be considered a qualitative jump in quantitative. Certainly, offer an optimal starting point to excellence. This paper point out some translations problems that emerges for construct comparability. Even with the right questionnaire design or the best translation procedures. As example, the concept of government will be used. It gives no problems tested by interaction analysis. The main reason is the Enthymeme effect. This rhetoric mechanism affect the visibility of this kind of troubles. At the same time, shows the limitations of testing and choosing items for measurement in a one-country base. The “intervention of the government in the economy” is not a “content” that can be employed cross-culturally to compare “left-right” ideological dimensions.