Research Variables - Essay Example

?Research Variables Introduction The major difference that has existed between traditional and multicultural research methodologies has always been with the purpose for conducting the research and the setting as well as participants involved in the research. In most cases, when the researcher is undertaking a traditional research that would not involve participants from different cultural setting, the way of going about the research variables are often straight forward and require no strict denotations. However as soon as the research happens to be a multicultural research and the researcher has to employ a multicultural research methodology, there are a lot of restrictions and ethical considerations that need to be made (Saunders, 2007). Two of such comparative and contrasting contexts of research variables are discussed below. Measurement Instruments In both multicultural and traditional research methodologies, the researcher designs a number of measurement instruments that helps in the data collection process. Depending on whether or not the researcher is conducting primary research for the traditional or multicultural research, the measurement instruments that are used are different and varying. In most cases however, the researcher would either use a questionnaire or an interview as instruments for data collection from respondents. In most cases, it is advanced that the researcher uses interview if the research is a qualitative research and also use questionnaire if the research is a quantitative research (Salina, 2002). The difference however is that with traditional research, the researcher is sure to ask general questions in both the questionnaire and the interview. These questions may be very broad and cover a wide range of issues. However for a multicultural research, the researcher becomes limited in a number of ways in terms of the structuring and design of questions. For instance, the researcher is required to ensure a very high degree of courtesy and ethical adherence. The problem that this may create is that the researcher may be limited in the search for certain key data that would make the research findings complete and empirical. In fact, in a bid to ensure fairness across the different cultures, there is the tendency that the researcher will be forced to skip very important but provocative questions. This is a major problem that comes with implementation of measurement instruments in multicultural researches; be it in the use of an interview or a questionnaire. What is more, during the use of various researches measurement instruments in the conduct of traditional and multicultural research, there are a lot of differences that exists in the kind of data that can be collected. This is to means that it is not all research problems that can be addressed using a multicultural measurement instrument. This means that the researcher’s choice of using multicultural measurement instrument may be limited by the kind of research problem there is. A typical example of this is a researcher whose research problem has to do with the effect of alcohol on adolescents. Clearly, such a researcher will be limited in the use of measurement instruments for a cultural background where alcohol is not taken at all. Such a cultural background could be given as an Arab cultural setting. A researcher who completes his research instrument; be it an interview guide or a questionnaire may not have the opportunity of applying the instrument in an Arab setting. Sampling The sample size plays an instrumental part in traditional research methodology, just as they do in multicultural research. Basically, the sample refers to the group of respondents or participants that the researcher collects data from directly. In their bid to form the sample size, researcher conducting both traditional research and multicultural research undertake sampling. This refers to the strategy used by the researcher to get the sample size in place. One of the similarities of sampling as a research variable is that in both traditional and multicultural research, sampling is needed for primary data collection instead of secondary data collection. Again, whether a researcher is conducting traditional research or multicultural research, he would use either a random sampling technique or a purposive sampling technique. However, for a multicultural research, if a researcher wants to be sure of using the same number of respondents from different cultural backgrounds, the researcher would have to rule a random sampling technique out and stick to purposive sampling technique. This is because the purposive sampling will help the researcher in handpicking a number of respondents from different cultural backgrounds that would be appropriate for the research. The problem that comes with traditional sampling and cross-cultural sampling is not very different from what is experienced in the application and use of measurement instruments. Nelson (2006) explains that the ultimate problem that multicultural research methodology creates in terms of sampling is that it has the potential of creating biases, which come with their own problems. For instance like in the example used above, a researcher may be forced to be collecting data from a sample size who do not have access to the data needed by the researcher if such a researcher is to sample respondents on the effect of alcohol from an Arab community. In the same way, a researcher who ignores an Arab culture in finding the effect of alcohol on adolescents because Arabs do not take in alcohol is generally heading for a conclusion that cannot be generalized as being empirical because of the bias of not including a certain fraction of the sample whose input could affect the results greatly. The final problem that is described by Nelson (2006) has to do with the differences in adaptive life styles among sample respondents from different cultures. He elucidates that when people are coming from different cultures, there is the tendency that they may be viewing the same size of the coin but be seeing different things. This may also affect the universality of the results as it leaves the researcher with the dilemma of either analyzing his findings according to the different cultural backgrounds of respondents in the sample size or analyzing the findings together. Conclusion To conclude, it would be said that even though the use of multicultural research methodologies may seem complex and come with a lot of limitations to the researcher, it all happens for a simple good. First, it happens because of the need to preserve ethical code across different cultural backgrounds. Indeed, culture a beautiful piece of human development that expresses the diversity and distinctiveness of the human race. For this reason, it is always important that the researcher finds a way of preserving and respecting the beliefs, principles and thoughts of the culture he is dealing with. In fact, each cultural setting finds their cultural practices very unique and special. It is for this reason that the researcher has to show a great sense of reverence for all cultures. Once this is done, the researcher can be assured of maximum cooperation from all participants, regardless of their cultural orientation. REFERENCE LIST Nelson M. J (2006). Cross-Cultural Psychology. Accessed May 18, 2012 from http://faculty.valpo.edu/jnelson/CCQMWebPage/CCQualPresentOL.htm Prentice Hall: London. Salina, C. (2009). Quality in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 5(4), 465-478. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2007). Research methods for business students 4th ed. Read More