By Kirk St.Amant | Fellow
The growth of global markets means technical communicators are increasingly doing or reviewing research on other cultures. This topic area, however, is vast. Doing work in this area, moreover, requires individuals to determine what constitutes effective research on nuanced aspects of culture, communication, and design. The resulting situation can be rather complex. After all, when studying other cultures, researchers must balance their own expectations against those of the culture they are studying. Failure to do so can lead to skewed results and inaccurate ideas and information based on faulty findings.
For technical communicators, this situation involves addressing one central question: What particular factors must one consider when doing or reviewing research on culture and communication? This article presents five principles that can help address this question. By considering each of the five, technical communicators can understand key factors that can influence the effectiveness—and the applicability—of research on culture, communication, and design.
Aspects of Culture and Communication
No culture is a single, unified entity (Berry, Poortinga, & Breugelmans). Rather, when researchers talk about “culture, ” they often mean the average behaviors and attitudes associated with the members of a particular group. Thus the individual members of a given culture might display behaviors and attitudes that differ from those associated with the culture in general (Sun; Yu, Chan, & Ireland).
Additionally, our native culture provides us with a mechanism for understanding the world around us (Varner & Beamer). It tells us what to pay attention to and how to interpret that which we encounter. As such, we often perceive and attempt to understand other cultures from the perspective of our own. These aspects of generalizability and perception have important implications for how technical communicators conduct and assess research on communication and design in other cultures (Getto & St.Amant). Guidelines that make technical communicators aware of and help them address such factors can lead to more effective research related to understanding aspects of culture, communication, and design.
Principles of Research on Culture, Communication, and Design
Effective research on culture, communication, and design involves understanding the parameters—or the limitations—affecting the research process. These include what data are collected and how; they also encompass how data are reviewed, interpreted, and reported. These ideas, moreover, are not unique to research on culture, communication, and design. Rather, they are central to doing effective research in general.
In research on culture and communication, however, there has been a tendency to accept and use ideas without closely examining the process used to generate them (see, for example, Cardon’s 2008 critique of the work of Edward T. Hall). Similarly, there has been a tendency to over generalize how applicable research results might be within the contest of a greater culture (Sun). Technical communicators need to be aware of such factors when doing research on culture, communication, and design. They also need to account for them when sharing the results of such research. The five principles discussed here represent an initial mechanism for identifying and addressing these aspects.
Principle 1: The Principle of Averages
The cultural communication patterns that emerge from the research process are not inherently representative of every single person within a given culture. Rather, they generally represent the average behavior patterns observed in certain groups of individuals. As such, research on culture and communication cannot account for the specific behavior of or expectations of a particular individual within a culture. They can only note general behavior patterns observed across the members of a particular cultural group—namely, the specific individuals studied in the research.
Technical communicators should remember that cultural communication patterns identified through the research process—no matter how well executed—do not apply to every individual from the related culture. In fact, certain members of a culture might have individual preferences or expectations that differ—sometimes, markedly—from more general cultural communication patterns. Moreover, the size of the population studied can have important implications for how widespread certain average behaviors might be.
To account for such factors when reviewing research on culture and communication, individuals should pay particular attention to:
- How many persons in a given culture were studied as a part of the research process?
- How widespread an average identified pattern of behavior was across the group studied (e.g., was the behavior seen in 9 out of 10 individuals or 6 out of 10 individuals)?
For individuals engaging in original research on culture, communication, and design, the key issues to consider in terms of averages involves:
- Selecting a large enough sample of individuals to determine how general—or average—a particular behavior is in a culture.
- Reporting on the related scope of such average behaviors (e.g., the behavior was seen in 9 out of 10 individuals or 6 out of 10 individuals).
By keeping such factors in mind, technical communicators can better determine what constitutes average user expectations in other cultural contexts. In so doing, they must also allow for flexibility to meet the expectations of individuals who might have expectations that deviate from the average.
Principle 2: The Principle of Time
Cultures are not stagnant. They change quickly and often unpredictably—especially in response to technological developments (Rogers). For this reason, any information on cultural behavior should be viewed as a “snapshot ” of that particular culture at a given point in time. While some behaviors might remain relatively resistant to change (e.g., basic moral values of good and evil), others can change quite quickly (e.g., uses of online media to exchange ideas). Such factors have important implications for the materials technical communicators use when doing initial research on culture, communication, and design.
In general, when reviewing the published research on this topic area, technical communicators should always:
- Note the publication date of all reference materials they use.
- Check that dates for research data in a given source (e.g., article or book) were collected.
- Review publication dates of materials listed in an article or a book’s “Bibliography, ” “References, ” or “Works Cited ” section.
- Determine if the subjects who participated in a study on culture and communication have been out of contact with the culture they are seen as representing (if so, for how long?).
Such information, in combination with the topic being researched (e.g., ethical values in business vs. uses of online media to connect to customers) can provide basic criteria for determining how relevant ideas reported in a given source might be. This principle of time is particularly important for individuals using a review of the published research to guide the design of their own original research activities.
Moreover, by reviewing research reporting on the same aspect in a culture over time (e.g., attitudes toward family in business interactions), technical communicators can determine how resilient certain aspects are to change. Such findings can reveal how embedded—or central and resistant to change—particular factors might be within the context of a particular culture.
Principle 3: The Principle of Contact
No researcher (or team of researchers) can make contact with all of the individuals in any culture. In some cases, this factor of contact is based on pragmatics. That is, a researcher can only interview, interact with, or observe a limited number of persons at a given time. In other cases, such limitations in contact might reflect social restrictions governing with whom a researcher may interact in a given culture. In some cultures, for example, lower-status individuals—especially outsiders—might be restricted in the contact they can have with higher-status individuals in the culture being studied.
This factor of contact affects how representative the resulting research findings on certain groups might be. In all cases, these contact-related limitations affect a researcher’s ability to generalize the communication behaviors they report. The key factors to consider here are:
- With whom did the researcher make contact during the related study/research process?
- How representative were the individuals studied in relation to their overall culture?
In essence, the subjects studied might represent the communication behaviors of the particular group of which they are a part. That group, however, might not be representative of the overall culture being studied. English speakers, for example, might represent a narrow segment of the overall population in certain cultures (e.g., represent individuals of a particular socio-economic background). Thus, research that only included the English speakers in that culture could produce skewed results not applicable to the greater culture being studied. For this reason, when technical communicators read research reports or undertake research on a culture, they should determine how factors of contact could affect the applicability of the research results.
Principle 4: The Principle of Observation
Our native culture provides us with a mechanism for determining what to look for or pay attention to in most contexts (St.Amant; Varner & Beamer). These expectations affect what we can see (or observe) in a given cultural setting. In many U.S. offices, for example, technical communicators expect to have their own computer, their own telephone, their own stapler, their own desk and chair, etc. Such expectations could mean Americans visiting another culture might not readily recognize/observe an office in that culture if such offices do not reflect the expectations of the observer (St.Amant).
This factor means a researcher might only notice (or observe) part of an overall communication process in another cultural context. (In some cases, it might be overlooked completely.) The problem is researchers can only analyze the data they are able to collect. If a cultural observation issue means certain data—or aspects of communication behavior—were overlooked/not seen, then the related results reported could be inaccurate or incomplete. The more data missing due to observational mis-matches, the more flawed the related research findings might be.
For this reason, researchers need to be aware of how their own cultural perspectives might affect their ability to observe behaviors in a different cultural context. From this point, the researcher would need to determine—and note in the reporting of research—how this factor affected the data he or she was able to collect via observation.
The researcher also needs to determine what steps he or she might take to address this factor. In some intercultural research projects, for example, researchers recruit members of the local culture to serve as a part of the overall research team. These individuals then help in identifying (or observing) certain communication behaviors that might be missed by persons from outside of that culture (Dutta & Das).
Principle 5: The Principle of Interpretation
It is one thing to see something; it is another to effectively and correctly understand what we have observed. Just because we can see or identify something does not necessarily mean we can correctly interpret it. Consider, for example, optical illusions in which observers see the same image but have different interpretations of what it depicts (e.g., the famous “faces in vases ” illusion). The idea individuals need to remember is observation and interpretation are two different but interrelated aspects of the research process.
In research on culture, communication, and design, the individual’s native culture provides the underlying explanation for why humans do things. (Observed behavior: Students raise their hands in a classroom setting. Interpretation of behavior: They want the teacher to grant them permission to speak in that context.) The problem is that researchers could incorrectly interpret the communication activities of other cultures by inadvertently using their own culture as a guide for understanding such actions.
The notion that humans interpret based on what their native culture tells them something means is a factor that can cause communication problems in international contexts. What, for example, does the “thumbs up ” (i.e., the clenched fist with the thumb pointing upward) sign mean if used during a conversation? For most Anglo-Americans, this gesture would be interpreted as communicating a positive attitude, or all is good. For observers from other cultures, however, this same gesture would likely be interpreted to indicate a negative attitude, if not an obscene gesture. In this way, one’s native culture affects his or her ability to interpret the behaviors observed when doing research on culture and communication.
Addressing aspects of culture and interpretation generally involve two factors. First, the researcher needs to understand and accept her or his ability to interpret what she or he observes is limited by cultural factors. Second, the researcher needs to consider strategies for addressing this factor effectively. As with aspects of observation, one approach is to include a member of the related culture in the research team to assist with the process of interpreting observations (Dutta & Das). Another involves using interviews or focus groups comprised of members of the related culture and asking individuals to comment on (i.e., interpret) what the behaviors observed by the researchers means (Dutta & Das).
Applying the Principles
The five principles discussed here have important implications related to different aspects of research involving culture, communication, and design:
- They provide a mechanism for evaluating existing research to determine how effective or applicable the related results might be.
- They provide individuals planning research projects with factors to consider when designing original studies.
- They can serve as a mechanism for testing—and, perhaps, modifying—existing research (and related ideas) on culture, communication, and design.
By applying these five principles in these ways, technical communicators can effectively use, update, and expand research in the area of culture, communication, and design. They can also help others design materials that more effectively meet the expectations and needs of users in other cultures.
Conclusion
As businesses continue to become global in scope, technical communicators will find themselves doing research on culture, communication, and design. Effective research in this area, after all, is essential to creating effective (and usable) materials for audiences from other cultures. The five principles presented here can help technical communicators effectively engage in such research. Through applying these principles in different contexts, technical communicators can both enhance their understanding of audiences from other cultures and better design materials for users in those cultures.
KIRK ST.AMANT (kirk.stamant@gmail.com) is an STC Fellow and a professor of technical and professional communication and of international studies at East Carolina University. His main areas of research are international communication, particularly as it relates to health and medicine, online communication, and online education.
References
Berry, J. W., Y. H. Poortinga, & D. L. Breugelmans. Cross-cultural Psychology: Research and Applications. 3d ed. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Cardon, P. A Critique of Hall’s Contexting Model: A Meta-analysis of Literature on Intercultural Business and Technical Communication. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 22.4 (2008): 399–428.
Dutta, U., & S. Das. The Digital Divide at the Margins: Co-designing Information Solutions to Address the Needs of Indigenous Populations of Rural India. Communication Design Quarterly, 4.1 (2015): 36–48.
Getto, G., & K. St.Amant. Designing Globally, Working Locally: Using Personas to Develop Online Communication Products for International Users. Communication Design Quarterly, 3.1 (2014): 24–46.
Rogers, E. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. New York: Free Press, 2003.
St.Amant, K. A Prototype Theory Approach to International Web Site Analysis and Design. Technical Communication Quarterly, 14 (2005): 73–91.
Sun, H. Cross-cultural Technology Design: Crafting Culture-sensitive Technology for Local Users. New York: Oxford UP, 2012.
Varner, I., & L. Beamer. Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace, 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010.
Yu, L., C. Chan, & C. Ireland. China’s New Culture of Cool: Understanding the World’s Fastest-growing Market. Berkeley, CA: New Riders, 2007.
