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Building Infrastructure for International Collaborative Research in the Social and Behavioral Sciences Summary of a Workshop (2014) / Chapter Skim
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4 Issues in Conducting International Collaborative Research
Pages 29-34

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From page 29...
... Discussion during the workshop centered primarily on the importance of cultivating personal relationships among collaborators, especially in light of the inevitable difficulty of bridging cultural differences that separate them; the need to deal flexibly with unexpected circumstances and changes while carrying out data collection and analysis; using new technologies in both rich and less wealthy countries; and writing up and disseminating results. CULTIVATING RELATIONSHIPS Although all agreed that international collaborations generally grow out of personal relationships, workshop participants also emphasized that working harmoniously with colleagues from differing cultural and intellectual backgrounds means overcoming many opportunities for misunderstanding, miscommunication, and even conflict.
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From page 30...
... Such discussions are not always harmonious, however, as cultural differences asserted themselves. "At our worst moments," Tobin continued, "we performed versions of national character stereotypes, with the Germans insisting on following the agenda and complaining that the Italians were engaging in side conversations or going off topic, while the French were resisting overlinear thinking and waxing philosophical.
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From page 31...
... Johnson, like Michele Gelfand, also emphasized during her presentation the importance of "triangulation," or validation against other methods, in choosing and using research data and methods. She also described an alternative research approach that she learned in the field, a technique called Camera Voice developed by Caroline Wang, an anthropologist in China.
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From page 32...
... population can be uniquely identified using three pieces of data: birth date, zip code, and gender. DISSEMINATING RESEARCH RESULTS Once data collection and analysis is complete, disseminating a research project's results constitutes a crucial final step.
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From page 33...
... To disseminate results and findings in such contexts, therefore, researchers must work to devise other, appropriate means of conveying information, be they face-to-face or community meetings or other types of materials. Johnson noted, however, that such efforts are costly in time and energy, and though they are often very valuable, they rarely get recognition or credit in the academic world.
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