Ethical and Methodological Challenges of Cross-Cultural Qualitative Research

Ethical and methodological challenges often emerge when conducting cross-cultural qualitative research, especially in community-based participatory action research (CBPAR). Generally, researchers using qualitative methods often address explicit challenges of conducting qualitative research with diverse cultural groups and across cultural systems. Some of these explicit discussions relate to language, translation, and interpretation challenges pre and post data collection. Missing from these discussions, however, are the implicit and unexpected challenges encountered by researchers who pursue and engage in cross-cultural qualitative data collection and analysis. These implicit challenges, which often relate to the researcher's experiences, biases, and ontological perspectives, are either omitted or discussed in general terms. Essential to capturing subjective meaning and giving voice to underserved, marginalized, and vulnerable people is the role of the researcher, such as the emergence of insider/outsider roles within the context of historical, socioeconomic and political systems. While frameworks may exist to guide researchers in the value of and process of cross-cultural participatory action research, explicit methods are seldom recommended (Mill & Ogilvie, 2003; Seng, 1998). Thus, such lack of methodological guidance and prescription threatens the credibility, transferability, and dependability of qualitative research studies. Thus, the potential exists for researchers to select a methodology that will either ignore or not account for explicit ethical dilemmas related to historical and sociopolitical events or situations. In this roundtable, six researchers with cross-cultural and multilingual qualitative research experience will discuss their journeys and processes for establishing and accounting for sociopolitical and historical events in their research with Latinos, Iranians, Japanese, Hmong refugees, and North Americans. The presenters aim to: 1) Identify methods to recognize possible ethical challenges that may emerge when conducting cross-cultural and multilingual participatory action research; 2) Discuss the need to connect past, present, and future sociopolitical and economic events to the methodology of the study; 3) Discuss proactive methods for enhancing bracketing and self-awareness; 4) Discuss methods for enhancing rigor in cross-cultural participatory action research; and 5) Discuss different methods for effectively using the insider/outsider role.