Methodological issues in cross-cultural counseling research:: Equivalence, bias, and translations

Concerns about the cross-cultural validity of constructs are discussed, including equivalence, bias, and translation procedures. Methods to enhance equivalence are described, as are strategies to evaluate and minimize types of bias. Recommendations for translating instruments are also presented. To illustrate some challenges of cross-cultural counseling research, translation procedures employed in studies published in five counseling journals are evaluated. In 15 of 615 empirical articles, a translation of instruments was performed. In 9 studies, there was some effort to enhance and evaluate equivalence between language versions of the measures employed. In contrast, 2 studies did not report using thorough translation and verification procedures, and 4 studies employed a moderate degree of rigorousness. Suggestions for strengthening translation methodologies and enhancing the rigor of cross-cultural counseling research are provided. To conduct cross-culturally valid research and deliver culturally appropriate services, counseling psychologists must generate and rely on methodologically sound cross-cultural studies. This article provides a schema for performing such studies.