Conceptual and Methodological Challenges in Multiple Goal Research among Remote and Very Remote Indigenous Australian Students

Abstract

This paper reports on a large‐scale quantitative psychometric study conducted in very remote and remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory Australia. Thirteen school sites and 1,044 participants contributed to the study. The full study is concerned with examining the inter‐relationships between multiple achievement goals, future goals, self‐regulation, and learning processes and their relationship to achievement outcomes in communities that are very remote geographically and culturally from Western settings. The study reported in this paper sets out to examine four key issues: the construct validity and reliability of the multiple motivational scales drawn from Personal Investment theory for very remote and remote Indigenous students in Australia; the level of endorsement of these motivational scales for remote and very remote Indigenous students; any differences between groups considered collectivist and individualist on these multiple goals, and lastly, the theoretical, methodological, cultural, and logistical difficulties encountered in conducting the research that may have impacted on its external validity.