How to conduct good cross-cultural research: Methodological consideration

MENA Dubai 2003 Abstract

Author Klaus Boehnke
Copy This presentation will give an overview of the state of the art in conducting good cross-cultural research. It will address both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. In doing so it will challenge the popular notion that quantitative research necessarily need to apply a top-down, universal, etic approach to cross-cultural studies, while qualitative research is prone to resort to bottom-up, indigenous, emic strategies when conducting studies in different cultures. The paper argues that quantitative comparative studies can very well employ an emic, bottom-up research strategy, while qualitative studies would greatly benefit from a planned-comparison strategy, usually found in quantitative etic studies.