Cultural Sensitivity: Guidelines for Qualitative Research

Cultural differences between researchers and participants may be associated with biases that reduce the reliability and validity of studies and negatively impact target communities. This methodological note responds to the lack of standards for cultural sensitivity in qualitative research in the social domain, and specifically educational sciences, in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch-Caribbean, Suriname, and Flanders. Guidelines for cultural sensitivity are formulated for phases of qualitative research based on a literature review and illustrations of good and inconvenient practices from a case study. The guidelines emphasize the importance of developing cultural sensitivity at the level of researchers, institutions and by involving members of the target community at all stages of research. Finally, the scope of the guidelines is indicated, and the importance of an integral evaluation is stressed.