Culture-mind-set segments

1 Better understanding of respondents in the culture-mind-set segments 

There is an alternative approach to understanding the respondents, which begins not with who they are but rather with how they think when they respond to a specific topic. By looking at how respondents think about a specific situation, we end up dividing the respondents into a small set of complementary groups called mind-set segments. These individuals may be of different genders, live in different places, even in different countries, share little in common with each other on most topics, but nonetheless think, or at least respond, similarly for a particular topic (Moskowitz et al, 2005). 

The mechanics of clustering individuals is not of relevance here, since many statistical textbooks, user manuals for computer programs, and published articles in archival journals deal with clustering. What is important for us here is that we can divide our 200 respondents based upon the patterns of their coefQcients in the models relating to the presence/absence of the 36 elements to their rating. 

When we follow standard statistical procedures to divide our 200 respondents into groups based upon the aforementioned mathematical criteria (minimum distances within clusters, maximum distance between clusters), we end up with a so-called 1-cluster solution (the total), a 2-cluster solution, a 3-cluster solution, a 4-cluster solution, and a 5-cluster solution. In fact, we could continue the exercise until we reach a 200-cluster solution. How do we know which one is the correct solution  

The notion of correct solution has no absolute answer. Rather, it is defined by one s criteria. The criteria we use here are  

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