“Actually, in my culture…” Identity, positioning, and intersubjectivity in cross-cultural interviews

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Olivia Groves ◽  
Honglin Chen ◽  
Irina Verenikina
Keyword(s):  
Common Ground ◽  
Multiple Identities ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Internationalization Of Education ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Identity Positioning ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The increasing internationalization of education has brought diversification to university student populations. The demographic changes pose great challenges to interview practice as interviews are increasingly occurring in cross-cultural contexts and often involve participants from diverse cultural backgrounds. Recent research has demonstrated that the cultural identity of the interviewer, in particular, the insider or outsider positioning relative to the participants, can impinge upon the quantity and quality of the collected interview data and research outcomes. In this paper, we go beyond this conception of interviewer as either a cultural insider or outsider to examine how multiple identities and positionings are enacted by interviewer and interviewees in order to achieve intersubjectivity, or common ground, in cross-cultural research interviews. The paper contributes to understanding the complexity of cross-cultural interviews, in particular, the impact of positioning processes on the establishment of intersubjectivity and data construction.

scholarly journals Translation as an Ecological Tool for Instrument Development

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey Vinokurov ◽  
Daniel Geller ◽  
Tamara L. Martin
Keyword(s):  
Instrument Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Translation Process ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
American Society ◽  
Theoretical Issues

In this paper the authors outline the translation process involved in Macro International's evaluation of the Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Georgia. IVLP is a long-running program in which professionals and prospective leaders from around the world participate in funded short-term visits to the United States to learn first-hand professional practices and values of American society and democracy. The authors highlight the importance of attending to the theoretical issues in, discuss contextual factors inherent in, and outline specific phases of the translation process, and present the modified decentering translation technique adapted for the project. They describe the types of translation equivalencies that were addressed and present findings that attest to the quality of the translation. They underscore the importance of the translation process as a qualitative tool for the instrument development that maps the contexts of people's lives, documents emic-etic aspects of cross-cultural research, and fosters collaborations with all stakeholders of the research project.

scholarly journals Inside-Out Interviews: Cross-Cultural Research in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 445-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Sposato ◽  
Heather L. Jeffrey
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Inside Out

ABSTRACTThere is a paucity of research exploring the use of local facilitators in cross-cultural research in Chinese cultural contexts and the impact this may have on data generation and knowledge creation. Addressing this gap, this paper critically reflects on cross-cultural interviews in Hong Kong. The reflection is centred on the experience of interviewing as an outsider to the culture of the participants and later working alongside an insider. While insider and outsider positionalities are formed from a multitude of intersectional characteristics, both gender and nationality emerged as primary influencers in this context. This paper contributes to the methodologically oriented literature by making salient the complexities of deciphering the multitude of influences originating from the researcher's positionality in relation to research others. Specifically, this paper highlights how both insider and outsider positionalities generate different, but complementary data through the exploration of participant's responses. ‘It's a Chinese thing’ or comments equating to it's a woman's thing were used by participants to either limit responses or expand and offer additional information, and the juxtaposition of these responses with those given to an insider help to highlight what this might mean for knowledge creation.

scholarly journals Promoting common ground building in L2 cross-cultural conversations

2021 ◽  
pp. 220-225
Author(s):  
Maryam Sadat Mirzaei ◽  
Kourosh Meshgi ◽  
Toyoaki Nishida
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Awareness ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Communication Strategies ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Teaching Culture ◽  
Points Of View ◽  
Immersive Environment ◽  
Optimal Approach ◽  
Different Cultures

Teaching culture out of context may not be the optimal approach, yet it could be achieved by immersive technologies. This study uses an immersive theme-based environment and focuses on cross-cultural interactions between learners of different cultures in goal-oriented scenarios. We collected interactions among learners with different cultural backgrounds and annotated common ground formation and conversation breakdowns in those interactions. Next, we recreated the scenarios in a 3D immersive environment using an in-house situation creation toolkit to enable experiencing the situation by using choices to navigate the conversation and observing the consequences. In case the conversation derails, we provide timely scaffolding by offering appropriate communication strategies to rebuild common ground. Learners can be the actors of the scenarios but can also be the observers by switching between roles and points of view. Preliminary experiments with 20 L2 learners of English from different cultures showed that practicing with immersive conversational game-play is effective for raising cultural awareness and learning to choose appropriate strategies for smooth interactions.

scholarly journals No is No, Maybe is No, Yes is Maybe: Issues of authenticity and accuracy from interviews with Vietnamese and Mongolian entrepreneurs

2019 ◽  
pp. 123-171
Author(s):  
Mike Turner ◽  
Richard Pech
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Research Experiences ◽  
Entrepreneurship Research ◽  
Interview Method ◽  
Cultural Research ◽  
Cross Cultural Research ◽  
Research Interviews ◽  
Cultural Entrepreneurship

The following examines the challenges of cross-cultural entrepreneurship research, with a specific focus on the interview method. Challenges of the interview method are explained with guidelines for conducting cross-cultural research interviews. Examples are taken from the authors’ research experiences while interviewing Vietnamese and Mongolian entrepreneurs. Risks and problems as well as solutions associated with qualitative research methods are discussed in an effort to acquire authentic and accurate results through a transparent and scientifically rigour process.

scholarly journals Cross-Cultural Research on Psychotherapy: The Need for a Change

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volkan Koç ◽  
Gülnihal Kafa
Keyword(s):  
Western Culture ◽  
Psychotherapy Research ◽  
Western World ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Underdeveloped Countries ◽  
Current State ◽  
Cultural Research

Psychotherapy models, some of which now have a history over a century, have been practiced worldwide. However, considering that the most prevalently applied psychotherapy models are the products of Western culture, questioning the extent of these models’ effectiveness and efficiency for people belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds is legitimate. No doubt, ethno-cultural groups living in Western multicultural societies will interact with Western culture more deeply compared with people living in non-Western countries; therefore, to also think that their needs will differ is reasonable. In this case, the quantity and quality of the required adaptations may also change. Although a promising number of studies exist on intercultural adaptations necessitated by the needs of multicultural societies, the literature on the effectiveness of these models in the non-Western world and the local psychotherapy models is quite limited. One important question is whether psychotherapy models can be adapted to address non-Western cultures without transforming their fundamental assumptions, and if so, can this be conducted efficiently? With these questions in mind, the aim is to review the current state of scientific studies on psychotherapy practices in various cultures. In addition, considering the large spectrum of cultural migration taking place in modern days and the difficulty of receiving mental health services in underdeveloped countries, the importance of adapted and local psychotherapy research has been emphasized and some suggestions for consideration in future research have been made.

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