Culture and Psychology Research Methods

Outline Conceptual equivalence Measurement Sample selection Choice of method Statistical analysis Interpretation of results ethics

Conceptual Equivalence Emics and Etics Culture-specific vs. culture-general Etic – common to cultures around the world Emic – focus on how the behaviour is carried out in a particular culture

Measurement Problem: Measurement instruments developed in one culture may not assess the same construct in another culture for many reasons. Solution: Develop culture-free or culture-fair tests. Culture-freethe instrument measures some inherent quality of human capacity equally well in all cultures Culture-fair a set of items that are equally unfamiliar to all persons in all cultures multiple sets of items, modified to ensure that each version of the test is equally familiar

Measurement, cont. Problem How do we ensure that two instruments are linguistically equivalent? Solution Back translations with bilingual persons and pilot testing in different groups.

Measurement, cont. Problem Are the differences found due to culture, other demographic variables, or the method? Solution Triangulation of samples and methods

Sample Selection The extent of representative sampling (the extent to which sampling is representative of a population) influences the extent to which we can generalize our observations to other members of that populations If we are going to make claims about a cultural group (or populations) it is essential that we sample as representatively as possible from that cultural group. Need to obtain comparable samples, such that they differ primarily in cultural terms (not SES, education, gender, or other variables).

Sample Selection, cont. Multiple-group comparisons help control for other potentially influencing variables Choice of cultural groups should be based on a priori theorizing, not simply on availability

Choice of method Laboratory experiment Quasi-experiment (field, natural) Surveys (interviews and questionnaires) Controlled and participant observation Archival analysis

Statistical analysis Description Central tendency and variability Correlation Correlation and causation Differences Size of difference Overlapping distribution

Interpretation of Results Exotic bias We tend to focus on the differences and forget the similarities. Cultural absolutism vs. cultural relativism

Ethical Issues in the Study of Culture and Psychology Informed Consent Voluntary Risks and Benefits Confidentiality and Anonymity

Ethical Issues in the Study of Culture and Psychology Margaret Mead, cited in Ethics, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 1994 There is first of all the responsibility to the individuals who, if identified, must not thereby be exposed to legal sanctions, to ridicule or to danger.

Ethical Issues in the Study of Culture and Psychology Second there is the responsibility to the group as a whole. Where customs are portrayed that contrast with the ethical standards of those who govern them or with the missionized or educated members of their own society, these must be represented in such a way that full justice is done to the cultural framework within which a given practice, however apparently abhorrent, occurs.

Ethical Issues in the Study of Culture and Psychology Finally, there is the responsibility of the anthropologist [Ed. note, read social scientist] for the way in which his findings are interpreted and articulated into the ongoing understanding of human behaviour in the human sciences of his day.