Social work researchers who identify and define social problems run the risk of leaving their social fingerprints on such problems, as well as their favored solutions to them. As a result, the direction of the research agenda is driven by the focus of the research problem formulation, instead of the cultural relevance. The purpose of this article is to offer guiding principles for integrating cultural relevance into the social work research process. The authors offer definitions of cultural relevance, a rationale for using cultural relevance in social work research, a framework for constructing cultural relevance in the process of research problem formulation, and an example of how this framework applies within the context of HIV prevention education in the African American community.