Beyond Research on Cultural Minorities: Challenges and Implications of Research as Situated Cultural Practice

Abstract

This article examines the cultural nature of research. This is a consequential idea as research knowledge is expected to inform professional practices for our increasingly multicultural society. We highlight theoretical and methodological limits of the traditional practice of research on cultural groups and outline research as situated cultural practice. This notion challenges researchers to widen the analytic spotlight from a focus on certain groups to shed light on two additional aspects, namely, the sociocultural location of the researcher as a cultural being and member of a scientific field, and the cultural presuppositions in a field's habitual practices. We outline a model of culture that underlies the idea of research as situated cultural practice. We illustrate this notion with quantitative and qualitative research examples and reflect on implications for future research.