International collaboration: Challenges for researchers

Collaboration, cooperation, joint research, partnerships, teamwork-these words refer to activity that involves people working together. Within the same country, this interaction presents challenges that can be resolved through negotiation and compromise.

With the advent of faster international travel, the growing importance of international conferences, and particularly the effective use of the Internet for rapid communication and creation of knowledge, the incidence of international collaboration by researchers on projects in education (and other fields) is steadily increasing. Educational researchers often state that it is actually easier to work alone in some situations than to work with another, because of the compromises, writing, and rewriting that must occur. At the same time, final products often are more balanced and in-depth because of the interaction and challenging effects of working with a partner (Mullen = Kochan 2001; Hafernik, Messerschmitt, and Vamdrick 1997).

Collegial research projects within the same institution or within the same country are sufficiently challenging, but, when the effort involves international collaboration for a set of broad studies for crosscultural investigations, the challenges are multiplied in several directions. We will examine the challenges facing international collaborators in educational research, for the sake of assisting those who are either currently involved in or considering the initiation of international collaboration in education.

We will discuss three categories of factors for consideration-cultural, structural, and interpersonal/professional. As we define it, "educational research" refers to any systematic data collection and analysis using either quantitative or qualitative methodologies with school settings. "Collaboration" refers to work shared in conceptualizing the study, hypothesis generation, data analysis, conclusions, and/or the process of writing the research report.

CULTURAL FACTORS

A variety of cultural factors are important for researchers from different countries considering a cooperative venture. Whether subtle or obvious, these differences usually have deep roots in the history of the two or more countries represented by the colleagues.

One of those differences is language; though it is not always possible for each researcher to learn the other's language, the engagement of skilled interpreters and translators is essential to guarantee appropriate understanding not only between the researchers, but also with their constituents. Even between the United Kingdom and the United States, one finds differences in particular vocabulary items and colloquialisms, which cannot be assumed to have similar meanings. Though the English language has become the language of research and publication-as well as one of the languages of international conferences-it is still essential for collaborators using English as a common language to ensure mutual understanding of words and concepts. This problem can be especially challenging if one of the researchers is a native user of English and the other is not.

Learning each other's educational terminology is also critical to successful collaboration, separate from colloquialisms. Though English is becoming an international language in many domains, use of the same terms may vary from country to country. A commonly used term in one country may be completely unknown by that name in another country, and vice versa: for example, "research scheme" in the United Kingdom means "research program or research plan" in the United States. These differences can be simply minor inconveniences; however, they also can make a real difference in the interpretation of data.

A related but separate area is the use of technical terms in research between two or more researchers who have different national origins. Publication of research articles in international journals using the English language has smoothed out some of these differences, but it behooves researchers to examine carefully whether they are using research terms in the same way. For example, the comparison between experimental and control groups is interpreted differently between some Western and Eastern cultures; Chinese researchers sometimes do not view control groups as essential in carrying out experimental studies.

Another factor is general differences in cultural norms, which can affect researchers' working relationship and mutual expectations (Anderson-Levitt 2002). For example, researchers in North American or Western European countries might never expect that teachers would be available as research subjects on any days of the week other than when schools are in session. However, in China, teachers may be asked to participate unquestioningly in research at what might appear to be odd hours for a Westerner, including evenings, Saturdays, or Sundays. In addition, the pace of work varies across cultures; Europeans and North Americans tend to begin their work quickly without prior ceremony, while educators or subjects in some Asian countries expect that there will be a period of ceremonial introduction and polite or indirect discussion before beginning the process of data collection. Another example would be the value placed on individual versus team effort; in the United States and (to a lesser extent) European countries, people place a great value on the work of the individual, with the emphasis on what he or she has accomplished. On the other hand, people in non-Western countries, particularly in Asia, tend to place value on what a group has accomplished. This difference has an impact on organizing activities for instruction, as well as on the collective vs. individual efforts of adults summarizing research results.