The Cultural Preparedness Approach to Assessment
Contributing Author: Gideon Arulmani. More often than not, the methods used to elicit and interpret information are shaped by the philosophical and theoretical orientations of the observer. The rationale underlying methods of assessment and measurement have been the subject of extensive debate and the field has differentiated into the quantitative (psychometric) and the qualitative (non-psychometric) positions. However, an often ignored powerful, arbitrating force is culture. It is quite possible that an assessment method easily accepted in one culture may be unfamiliar, considered strange, or perhaps even inappropriate in another culture. The cultural preparedness view is that quantitative and qualitative approaches are both valuable and as with any single system, both have their limitations. Just as a psychometric test is only as good as the cultural relevance of its items and norms, a qualitative interview is almost entirely dependent on the skill and cultural experience of th...