Report R4.9 Doing Research on Attitude: Requirements of a Cross-Cultural Method Seminar Leader: Neharika Vohra, IIM, Ahmedabad, India neharika[at]iimahd.ernet.in Cultures emerge from the interactions within human communities and consist of various attributes such as beliefs, practices, expressions, and so forth. Cross-cultural research attempts to find general patterns of the cultural attributes as well as cultural differences. Depending upon the nature of the research problem, cross-cultural researchers can opt for an etic or an emic approach. In the etic approach, the researcher assumes the existence of similarities among cultures and attempts to determine the extent to which certain cultural attributes might be generalisable across cultures. In the emic approach, the researcher assumes cultures to be unique and explores the factors that contribute to the uniqueness. Both approaches can be complementary to each other. Sometimes, cross-cultural researcher use the survey method. They face difficulties in designing data-collection instruments, collecting data, and interpreting the data. Language plays a crucial role in developing the instrument for data collection. A questionnaire developed in one language, when translated into another language, may not convey the same ideas. Employing a collaborator having knowledge of the culture enables the researcher to understand the cultural differences and thus work out proper data-collection techniques. For example, a participant from a collectivist cultural setting, as sometimes found in parts of India, may respond differently when interviewed separately as against being interviewed in a group. In the same way, a participant from an individualist cultural setting, as sometimes found in parts of USA, may respond differently in different interview situations. In such cases, the data collected may be unreliable, consequently affecting the research output. The presence of the researcher may also affect the response of the interviewee. Another major methodological concern for cross-cultural researchers who opt for survey method is sampling. Obtaining a sample of invidivudals who are representative of a culture is a challenging task for a cross-cultural researcher. Often cross-cultural researchers opt for convenience sampling. Conclusions drawn from such samples may not be generalisable. Sometimes, research is undertaken to study the differences between two cultures which are assumed to be different. But there is a possibility of cultural diffusion between the two cultures under study, leading to some similar behaviours and practices. Such a research might result in misleading inferences. The seminar leader spoke about her research on attitude of the Indian youth towards entrepreneurship. The sample for the study consisted of persons of a specific age group who have completed or were pursuing graduation, across various regions of India. The participants of the research had a fair knowledge of English and so the questionnaire was written in English. The study indicated some interesting differences in the attitude of the youth across the regions. The differences were attributed to the difference in the notions that existed in the regions. Having completed the study in India, the seminar leader attempted to carry out the same study in China with her Chinese collaborator. For the data collection, the same questionnaire was translated into Chinese by two Chinese scholars separately. Later the translated questionnaires were re-translated back into English. The source and translated versions, however, were not equivalent to the preferred extent to carry out the research. Even the two Chinese versions had considerable differences. The complexity of the Chinese language family may also have contributed to the difficulty. This instance exemplifies the difficulty faced by cross-cultural researchers while developing instruments for data collection. There seems to be a growing concern for managing the issues of cultural identity and cultural diversity in contemporary organisations. An employee in a cross-cultural setting might face a tension between his/her own culture and the culture of his/her work environment. For example, call-centre employees dealing with customers of a different culture are required to adapt themselves to that culture while still being a part of their own culture. Such intermittent switching between cultural identities might hamper one’s work efficiency. Various methods and tools to understand and manage the difficulties arising from cultural diversity are formulated on the basis of research results. These methods and tools are often incorporated in various training programmes. However, since the research results are not fully generalisable, there is a possibility that cross-cultural training might sometimes reinforce cultural stereotypes. Reference Sekaran, U. (1983). Methodological and theoretical issues and advancements in cross-cultural research. Journal of International Business Studies, 14, 61-73.
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