Doing Cross-Cultural Research

Abstract

This new series aims to provide a public forum for single treatises and collections of papers on social indicators research that are too long to be published in our journal Social Indicators Research. Like the journal, the book series deals with statistical assessments of the quality of life from a broad perspective. It welcomes the research on wide variety of substantive areas, including health, crime, housing, education, family life, leisure activities, transportation, mobility, economics, work, religion and environmental issues. These areas of research will focus on the impact of key issues such as health on the overall quality of life and vice versa. An international review board, consisting of Ruut Veenhoven, Joachim Vogel, Ed Diener, Torbjorn Moum, Mirjam A.G. Sprangers and Wolfgang Glatzer, will ensure the high quality of the series as a whole. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work.Printed on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PrefaceDespite the proliferation of qualitative books in the last decade or so, there is not a single book that discusses ethical and methodological issues regarding cross-cultural research. Clearly, there is a great need for a new book that will devote an entire discussion on how best to work with people in our cross-cultural research projects who, I contend, are often vulnerable and marginalised. This book is a response to that need. Globally, cross-cultural research has become increasingly essential. In multicultural societies like the UK, the USA, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, there have been an increasing number of people from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Meeting the needs of our multicultural society requires a cultural awareness of the diversity and commonality in people's beliefs and practices. This, I argue, can be obtained by research, particularly the qualitative approach. Hence, cross-cultural research is a valuable tool for advancing cultural awareness of belief systems and practices among diverse groups. The need for culturally competent research is now urgent in view of the fact that current social and health policies in many developed countries attempt to address the needs of multiethnic populations.Similarly, the presence of Indigenous populations in countries such as Canada, the UK, the USA, New Zealand and Australia has a great ramification for social science researchers. The Indigenous peoples of these countries have been colonised, damaged and have become marginalised in their own native lands. Due to a concern about reducing inequalities between the Indigenous peoples and the " white " populations, there have been attempts to include these marginalised people in the research...