Abstract
Quantitative cross-cultural databases can help uncover structure and diversity across human populations. These databases have been constructed using a variety of methodologies and have been instrumental for building and testing theories in the social sciences. The processes and assumptions behind the construction of cross-cultural databases are not always openly discussed by creators or fully appreciated by their users. Here, we scrutinize the processes used to generate quantitative cross-cultural databases, from the point of ethnographic fieldwork to the processing of quantitative cross-cultural data. We outline challenges that arise at each stage of this process and discuss the strengths and limitations of how existing databases have handled these challenges. We suggest a host of best practices for cross-cultural database construction, and stress the importance of coding source meta-data and using this meta-data to identify and adjust for source biases. This paper explicitly discusses the processes, problems, and principles behind cross-cultural database construction, and ultimately seeks to promote rigorous cross-cultural comparative research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Cross-Cultural Research |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages (from-to) | 62-94 |
| Number of pages | 33 |
| ISSN | 1069-3971 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2022 |
Keywords
- bias
- comparative methods
- cross-cultural
- ethnographic records
- uncertainty
- variation