WY SV LECTURES
LECTURE 1 (06/09) - Why Social Scientific Research Is WEIRD (Luzia Heu)
WEIRD:
- Western
- Educated
- Industrialized
- Rich
- Democratic
Why is it a problem if most researchers and research subjects/participants are WEIRD?
This is a problem because samples influence what we find and conclude:
1. Findings based on participants, not ‘people’ in general (and: who is ‘people’?) wrong
theorizing and models
2. Findings may be different in different cultural contexts (generalizability?) incomplete
knowledges and theories
3. Scientific colonialism = patholizing other ways of being or acting (different contexts, norms
and values).
Practical Implications:
• We may try to apply solutions (e.g., in interventions, design, organizations, therapy) in a context
where they do not work or are even counterproductive (“iatrogenic effects”) (e.g. incorrectly
identifying problems and giving diagnoses when there is no problem in the first place)
• We may incorrectly define or categorize certain groups (e.g., give diagnoses where there is no
problem at hand) stigma?
Why is it a problem if most researchers are from WEIRD cultures?
1. Our cultural background influences what we find, how we interpret our findings and what we
conclude
2. Social and personal values, beliefs, norms determine what we research and how we research
it
• Which research do we fund? Which research do we define as relevant to examine? • Which
outcome variables do we examine?
• What do we define as desirable outcome?
• How do we measure abstract concepts?
NOT just a problem in psychology!
Suggestions to change WEIRD behavioral sciences:
• editors and reviewers push researchers to support generalizations with evidence
• granting agencies, reviewers and editors give credit for diverse and inconvenient subject pools
• granting agencies prioritize cross-disciplinary, cross-cultural research
• researchers evaluate how findings apply to other populations (note: only about research
participants, not researchers!)
Positionality = all characteristics and phenomena making up who you are and how you view the
world (e.g. personal characteristics, beliefs, values, experiences, etc.)
,Reflexivity = reflecting on (the influence of) one’s positionality on the research process and
interpretations of research outcomes (choice of topics, considered desirable outcome, interpretation
of results, ect.) being aware of your positionality and its effects
Note: is it possible to be an “objective” social scientist?
Culture:
Concept that is hard to define: not one ‘right’ definition, but many definitions.
My definition: a type of social group that shares some kind of values, norms, practices, etc. (though
much variation is still possible and likely within this group based on other things (and: there are
always (individual) exceptions!)).
It often entails...
- human-made part of human environment
- learned meanings
- transmitted over generations
- shared interpretations
- socialization
in this course:
- intersubjective understanding of culture
- culture = shared ideas (BUT: imperfectly shared)
- ‘ideas’ entail social norms (descriptive and injunctive), values and beliefs
‘Culture is an evolved constellation of loosely organized ideas and practices that are shared (albeit
imperfectly) among a collection of interdependent individuals and transmitted across generations for
the purpose of coordinating individual goal pursuits in collective living’ (Chiu, Leung, & Hong, 2010
SO: in an intersubjective understanding of culture …
• Culture consists of shared ideas (e.g., norms, beliefs, and values) and shared practices/behaviour
• These are passed on from one generation to the next
• These shared ideas help us live together in groups although members of these groups have
different (and sometimes conflicting) aims
Social norms: unwritten rules about what is typically done or ought to be done (what people do
(descriptive) or ought to do (injunctive))
- descriptive norms: unwritten rules about what most people do
- injunctive norms: unwritten rules about what people should do
- E.g.:
- descriptive: “Most adolescents move out of their parent’s home when they are 18.”
- injunctive: “Adolescents should become independent from their parents.”
Values: what people value, what is considered good, bad, desirable, important, ect. (similar to
injunctive norms)
- E.g.: “It is important to enter partnerships only based on love.”
(BUT: often a word, e.g. ‘individual freedom’, ‘mutual respect’, ‘equality’)
Beliefs: what is thought to be true (what people perceive to be true)
, - E.g.: “A love-based marriage is more fulfilling than an arranged marriage.”
These 3 oftentimes intersect/interrelate/overlap, difficult to disentangle!
Culture (i.e., shared ideas and practices) develops in all kinds of groups (i.e., collection of people with
some relation or shared characteristic) that live in different contexts...
3 types of contexts:
- Geographical contexts (e.g., countries, different cities, different villages, rural and urban
areas)
- Social contexts (e.g., groups with different SES, different gender, different political
orientation)
- Temporal contexts (i.e., over time)
And: Culture can vary at all kinds of levels (e.g. proximity to individual: family/friends, neighborhood,
city, area, country, ect.)
SO: Culture can vary between contexts, within types of contexts and at different kinds of levels!
LECTURE 2 (12/09) – Generalizability of social scientific research: How similar
or different are we? (Luzia Heu)
Commonalities for adolescents cross-culturally, examples: same basic needs, same basic physical
make-up, social, family, going through puberty, having an identity that means something, rituals,
growing responsibility, ect.
Adolescence seems to be recognized as a distinct life phase across cultures commonality!
• Usually starts with puberty (i.e., reproductive maturation)
• Sudden transition from childhood to new roles and responsibilities
• Courtship (almost always ends with marriage? most literature reviewed is from 1991)
• Peer groups are particularly important
Examples of commonalities among adolescents cross-culturally: system of social status and methods
of indicating it, courtship practices, dancing, myths, etc. (Fox 2004),
AND: social sanctions for deviations from social norms are perceived as appropriate
Differences for adolescents cross-culturally, examples: norms, values, religion, gender roles, youth-
elderly relations, independence, parenting styles, food habits, ect.
AND: adolescence as a period of conflict: this is not everywhere (in a lot of non-industrial countries
(e.g. Samoa, Mead)).
AND: adolescence as period of preparation for independence from parents: only in industrial
societies in non-industrial societies:
1) No need because married couples also live close to their families,
2) Family unit provides financial / social support, livelihood, and status
AND: regarding male and female peer group differences ‘commonality’ depending on how you define
cultural/social context
- Male adolescents spend more time with peers than female adolescents
- Peer groups of females usually smaller; and less significant than for males
