COMPARABILITY AND EQUIVALENCE IN SOCIAL RESEARCH

Abstract This study discusses some problematic issues around comparability and equivalence in empirical research, particularly focusing on the case of indicators taking a cross-national linguistic skills use foreign languages scientific production researchers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile as reference. The discussion is framed within broader epistemological methodological debates concerning status comparisons social sciences and, mainly, comparative studies. Within these debates, resorting to concrete examples arising research into scientists’ linguistics skills, we address issue target populations samples, well that indicator equivalence, with emphasis problems questionnaire design, reliability, validity.