Research and Cultural Competence

What will culturally competent research attempt to include?

It will attempt to include a suffiecient and representative number of research participants from minority and oppressed groups

What three things does cultural competence involve?

-knowledge -attitudes -skills

What is helpful in recruiting and retaining participants from minority and oppressed populations?

-obtaining endorsement from community leaders -using culturally sensitive approaches regarding confidentiality -employing local community members as research staff -providing adequate compensation -alleviate transportation and child-care barriers -choose a sensitive and accessible setting -use & train culturally competent interviewers -use bilingual staff -understand cultural factors influencing participation use anonymous enrollment with stigmatized populations -utilize special sampling techniques -learn where to look -connect with and nurture referral sources -use frequent and individualized contacts and persona touches

Name three things researchers should understand regarding other cultures.

-the minority culture's historical experiences -the effects of prejudice and oppression -how these experiences influence the ways in which its members live and view members of the majority culture

What are three main threats to culturally competent measurement?

1. Use of interviewers whose characteristics or interviewing style is offensive or intimidating to minority respondents or make them reluctant to reveal relevant and valid information 2. use of language respondednts do not understand 3. cultural bias

What 5 steps can improve cultural competence?

1. cultural immersion 2. participant observation 3. advice from colleagues who are members of the culture of interest 4. input from community members/leaders 5. focus groups

What are three issues in making research more culturally competent?

1. defining who qualifies as a member of a specific ethnic group 2. preferences and labels communicated to participants to classify their ethnicity 3. important subgroup differences within specific ethnic minority groups (no ethnic minority group is homogenous)

What is measurement equivalence?

A measurement procedure developed in one culture will have the same value an meaning when administered to people in another culture

What factors should a culturally competent researcher consider in their research?

Acculturation and the immigration process - when studying differences between minority & majority populations

What are techniques used to make sure measures are understandable to participants?

Back-translation; bilingual interviewers, well-translated measures, pretested measures to see if they are understood

What is cultural competence in research?

Being aware of and appropriately responding to the ways in which cultural factors and cultural differences should influence what we investigate, how we investigate, and how we interpret our findings

What is metric equivalence?

It means that scores on a measure are comparable across cultures.

What should researchers do prior to beginning an investigation with minority or oppressed populations?

Crucial that they develop cultural competence, including being well read in the literature on their cultures

What can occur when ethnic minorities are not included in a study but the study is generalized as if they were included?

Cultural insensitivity in interpreting data

What is back-translation?

Having a person translate the translation back into the original language

What can culturally insensitive measurement lead to?

It can produce unreliable information, offend participants, dissuade them from participating in studies, and lead to results that are perceived as harmful to their communities

What is linguistic equivalence?

It is attained when an instrument has been translated and back-translated successfully

What is conceptual equivalence?

It means that instruments and observed behaviors have the same meanings across cultures

What do current NIH policies stipulate?

That research proposals must include detailed plans for how women and minority participants will be recruited and retained

What is acculturation?

The process in which a group or individual changes after coming into contact with a majority culture, taking on the language, values, attitudes and lifestyle preferences of the majority culture

What is a problem with studies that do not include adequate representation from minority & oppressed groups?

They are not generalizable to those populations - no matter how rigorously the studies are designed

What should measurement procedures look like in culturally competent research?

They will have been shown to be reliable and valid for the minority groups participating in the research

What can cultural insensitivity lead to in interpreting research findings?

When data & analysis is culturally incompetent, it can result in findings on ethnic differences being prejudicial; can focus too much on deficits, too little on strengths