Reference no: EM131368798

Write a substantive response to the following.

I have chosen to look at the sampling issues that could conceivably create issues with the results of this research. The participants of this study were all college or university students. This means that the sample used is a convenience sample. Not that this is a bad thing, but this leaves out a significant number of people who work in education, counseling, medicine, and other areas that could or should require multicultural awareness and skills training; or those who have received this training that might contribute significant information to this study.

Looking more closely at the data provided that classified the participants I noticed that roughly, only 25% were male. Information that I obtained in another psychology class urges me to argue that gender interactions based on the culture may affect the reporting or acquisition of information. The area I found of most concern regarding the sample used is the geographical locations that were chosen.  Three universities in Maryland, two in New York, Virginia, Illinois, Washington D.C., Florida, Georgia, Arkansas, Oregon, and Hawaii participated (Kim, Cartwright, Asay, & D'Andrea, 2003).  It would seem, if I have done my math right that about 75% of the sample size is located on the east coast. Only about 3% is located on the west coast. The Midwest and South (not deep South) are each only represented by about 7% of the sample size.  This is important because the populations overall diversity, traditions, views, and lifestyles are different in each part of our Great Nation. Comparing, for example, Massachusetts to Louisiana is not comparing apples to apples. Comparing New Hampshire to California is not comparing oranges to oranges. These states have universities, and their participation could provide significant information that would improve the study's results. I guess I am concerned with what Hall (2010), would term culture-specific constructs. The point that I think comes into question is acculturation.  It is mentioned that a person's position within an environment is continually changing as are their views and perceptions of the environment. These changes occur when the foundational views are not the same as the majority within a culture or environment (Hall, 2010).

The sample in this study is of adequate size, but I think that the location of the participants as well as the significant inequality in the number of men and women present potential problems. My examples of this would be that a cultural perspective may affect the way interactions take place. This would potentially alter the multicultural skills review reporting. The other issue I see is the varying mindsets in different locations across the country.

References: Hall, G.C.N. (2010). Multicultural psychology (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Kim, B. S. K., Cartwright, B. Y., Asay, P. A., & D'Andrea, M. J. (2003). A revision of the multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills survey-counselor edition. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 36(3), 161.