2.3.7—Etic approach
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2027
- Objective
- 2.3.7
- Level
- SL
An etic approach compares cultures using an outside framework
An etic approach begins with concepts or measures chosen by the researcher and tests whether they apply across cultural settings. It is useful for seeking possible universals, but it can impose meanings that are unfamiliar locally.
The key risk is an imposed etic: a measure may look standardised while quietly treating one culture's assumptions as the norm. Translation, construct equivalence and local participation are needed before comparing scores.
Applying the same attachment categories to German and Japanese infants may label culturally different caregiver contact as the same psychological style. A cross-cultural comparison is informative only if the construct means comparable things.
Etic does not mean careless or automatically biased, and emic does not mean bias-free. Explain the research question, whose categories were used, and what evidence supports equivalence.