Making the Most of Culture and Context

Abstract

Research aimed at generating evidence to address elicitation challenges that arise because of extreme inequality and marginalized perspectives requires deliberation on relevant methodologies that can elicit insights by both revering marginalized sociocultural strengths and being sensitive to power imbalances. In this article, we provide examples of participatory methods that make the most of often silenced non-Western sociocultural strengths and create opportunities for participation despite barriers due to inequality. The examples emerged from multiple researcher journals and visual data from a study that documented indigenous psychology on resilience with elders ( n = 24; male = 10, female = 14) and young people ( n = 48; male = 21, female = 27) in two remote Southern African border communities. We describe the examples of elicitation methods to make the most of culture using (i) symbols that reflect nonmainstream sociocultural perspectives, (ii) familiar multiliteracies, (iii) a variety of spoken languages, and (iv) familiar collectivist modes, as well as contextual characteristics to (i) equalize opportunity given structural disparity, (ii) equalize power, and (iii) honor gender and age hierarchies. We conclude that methods for indigenous research can honor and leverage marginalized cultures and contexts to extend beyond sympathy for an oppressed worldview or a context of deprivation.