Different tests were used for each measure, which enhances the effectiveness of the survey because the questions reflected the type of answers that may be given. Such customization submits the paper to bias in the choice of measurement method. Because the four attributes being tested against one another were subject to different measurement techniques, it is more difficult to accurately compare these attributes against one another.
The first measure, that of the likelihood of respondents to accept postings in high culture difference countries vs. low culture difference countries, yielded definitive results. The respondents were far more likely to accept posts to low culture distance countries, although this result had a higher standard deviation compared to the likelihood of accepting posting to a high culture difference country.
It is worth considering how the survey specifically addressed the concept of culture difference. The question was worded vaguely -- "similar location" or "dissimilar location" -- leaving it subject to the interpretation of the respondent. The positive side to this is that there is no need to account for the different cultures represented by Singaporean nationals as they are free to determine for themselves what the terms mean. The negative side is that without specific examples -- or given the age of the respondents' significant international experience -- the results become less useful. While the support for the hypothesis is statistically robust, the free interpretation of the question reduces its usefulness because the survey is only measuring the perception of culture distance, not actual culture distance. For example, respondents may have a strong perception of cultural difference with a city such as Vancouver based on its physical difference and perceptions about Canada, yet the city has a fairly low cultural distance from Singapore for a non-Asian city. These differences between perceived and actual culture distance reduce the value of this part of the survey.
This quibble aside, the measures used in the article's survey generate useable data. The authors used a sufficiently large sample size, and they ran all of their results through regression analysis. The data proved sufficiently robust to draw conclusions with respect to the relative importance of the different factors. There were no further deficiencies identified through the regression analysis and interpretation of the data.
It is worth considering that the authors offered a limited choice of measures to the respondents. In the literature review, the others provided the academic basis for the inclusion of each category, but it is possible that other categories -- perhaps even more significant -- could have been identified and measured as well. If the others could not find an open-ended survey in the literature to distill the key measures to their chosen four, they could have conducted that research themselves prior to engaging in the research. That they did not shows their faith in the literature, but having also established that literature on the subject of the acceptance of overseas assignments is somewhat thin on the ground, the authors should have taken this shortcoming into question during their research design.
In the paper's concluding remarks, the authors admit that there are perhaps dozens of more variables suitable for study. It is reasonable, however,...
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