ao3

• strength- indigenous researchers

  van ljzendoorn and kroonenbergs research - most of the studies were conducted by indigenous psychologists

  for example, vi and k included research by a German team (grossmann et al) and Takahashi who is Japanese

  this means that many of the potential problems in cross-cultural research, such as bias because of one nations stereotypes or another researchers misunderstandings of the language used by participants or having difficulty communicating instructions can be avoided

  this means that there is an excellent chance that researchers and participants communicated successfully enhancing the validity of the data collected.
• counterpoint- indigenous researchers

  however, this has not been true of all cross-cultural attachment researchhowever, this has not been true of all cross-cultural attachment research

  for example, Morelli and tropic were outsiders from America when they studies child-rearing and patterns of attachment in the Efe of Zaire.

  their data might have been affected by difficulties un gathering data from participants outside their own culture

  this means that data from some countries might have been affected by bias and difficulty in cross-cultural communication
• limitation- confounding variable

  impact of confounding variables on findings

  studies conducted in different countries are not usually matched for methodology when they are compared in reviews or meta-analysis. sample characteristics such as poverty, age, social class and urban/rural make-up can confound results

  environmental variables might also differ between studies and confound results. for example, the size of the room and the availability of interesting toys might mean less visible proximity-seeking because of room size might make a child more likely to be classified as avoidant

  this means that looking at attachment behaviour in different non-matched studies conducted in different countries may not tell us anything about cross cultural patterns of attachment
• limitation - imposed etic

  trying to impose a test designed for one cultural context to another

  cross-cultural psychology includes the ideas of emic and etic. imposed etic occurs when we assume an idea or technique that works in one cultural context will work in another. an example of this in attachment research is in the use of babies' response to reunion with the caregiver in the strange situation.

  in Britain and the US, lack of affection on reunion may indicate an avoidant attachment. but in Germany, such behaviour would be more likely interpreted as independence rather than insecurity. therefore, that part of the strange situation may not work in Germany

  strange situation may not have the same meanings in different cultural contexts and comparing them across cultures in meaningless