THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM - FRENCH-ENGLISH DIFFERENCES ANDTHE PROBLEM OF MEASUREMENT EQUIVALENCE

This study examines the problem of achieving linguistic equivalence in Canada-wide surveys that rely, as they must, on two different questio nnaires, one in English and one in French. It is argued that this is a crucial problem which needs to be dealt with squarely. Since language does not coincide neatly with territorial boundaries in Canada, there will always be some francophones outside Quebec and some non-francoph ones within Quebec who are not interviewed in their first language. A comparison of responses given in both languages by members of the same language group enables the investigator to distinguish true cultural differences from mere artifacts of measurement. That methodology is ap plied to one specific issue, support for electoral democracy.