Psychologists doing research on hoe geographical variation affects personality has most of the time assessed the aggregate level of analysis. It is not easy to report from multi level models because most of the time such research takes a very long time, more than ten years. In such a case studying a geographical variation becomes very hard because subjects usually move, die or simply disappear and the researcher might not know the reasons. In addition, psychologists also prefer multi levels because they can be easily be compiled and analyzed with software, though this method is not recommended for its rigidity as well as technicality.
Furthermore, it is inaccurate to suggest that reference group effect should be ignored while comparing different nations. Most social scientists agree that cultural standards as well reference effects vary on the basis of traditions. For example, some nations have traditions which encourage people to be their brothers’ keepers. They encourage cooperation rather than competition like Chinese traditions. The American traditions on the other hand emphasize independent, competition and individualism. A study seeking to find out why people commit suicide would lead to totally different results in the two nations (Luke 356).
The effect of individualistic fallacy or reverse ecological fallacy on research findings is usually very negligible and as such does not affect the research conclusions especially in a case where the parameters of measuring the findings are similar. In case of their presence, it is appropriate for the researcher to calculate or estimate the amount of error (Luke 452).
Therefore, the conclusion that variables of different level of analysis should be understood at the same level of investigation, though true does, not apply to all cases especially where the parameters of measurement similar.
Work Cited
Luke, Douglas. Multilevel modeling, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2004. Print.
