Introduction to Applied Cross-Cultural Data Analysis

This chapter introduces applied cross-cultural data analysis and addresses the concepts of culture and how culture can be integrated into social work research. We review the definition of culture and how it has been understood and examined in research across various disciplines. We present an overview of the theories and frameworks of cross-cultural analysis, and provide the lens through which culture is examined by means of the techniques and approaches that are used in this book. Cross-cultural analysis can be viewed as comparisons based on key demographic variables such as countries of origin, race, ethnicity, language, sex, religion, and related cultural identifications. The assumption is that people who share the same cultural identification also share similar values and behaviors.