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Abstract.The form-resistant hypothesis states that alternative ways of measuring the same values should be small if method-specific features are taken into account. However, previous research that compared rating and ranking questionnaires for measuring values has shown mixed results. We suggest that adopting a latent class segmentation approach helps to explain these mixed results by identifying segments with similar item preference structures and segments linked to one format only. Our approach is applied to a Dutch survey on work values. In both ranking and rating mode, we find two similar segments reflecting the intrinsic and extrinsic preference structure, while other segments differed between modes. In line with the modified form-resistant hypothesis, the results suggest the same latent preference structure has guided particular segments in a population to respond similarly to rating and ranking questions.

Can existing longitudinal surveys profit from the (financial) advantages of web surveying by switching survey mode from face-to-face interviews to web surveys? Before such a radical change in data collection procedure can be undertaken, it needs to be established that mode effects cannot confound the responses to the survey items. To this end, the responses of the Dutch European Values Study of 2008 were compared to the responses of a time parallel web survey. The responses on 163 of the 256 items differed significantly across modes. To explain these response differences between modes, an exploratory crisp set qualitative comparative analysis approach was used. Five sufficient conditions—combinations of survey mode characteristics—but no necessary conditions for response differences between survey modes were found. Two survey characteristics were neither necessary nor sufficient to produce the outcome. Results suggest that switching modes may affect comparability between waves in a longitudinal survey.

It is generally accepted that both measurement inequivalence and extreme response bias (ERB) can seriously distort measurement of attitudes and subsequent causal models. However, these two issues have rarely been investigated together. In this article we demonstrate the flexibility of a multigroup latent-class factor approach in both analyzing measurement equivalence and detecting ERB. Using data from the European Values Survey from 1999/2000, we identified an ERB in answering Likert-type questions on attitudes toward morals of compatriots. Furthermore, we found measurement inequivalence in the form of direct effects of countries on the attitude items. The model that included both these issues resulted in quite distinct findings regarding country difference in the latent attitude compared to the models that only included one of these effects – either measurement inequivalence or extreme response. It is suggested that the all-inclusive model provides the more valid estimates of country differences in the latent attitude.