Cultural Consensus Analysis Research Articles

Modelling cultural, national and innovation identities in order to understand New Zealand's modest innovation performance

In a world that has moved swiftly to global trade, innovation rates have become one of the tools by which nations achieve success in the world. New Zealand is a middling international performer with regards to innovation. Utilizing discourse analysis and cultural consensus analysis we built models of New Zealand culture, national identity and innovation identity in order to gain insights into cultural and identity attributes that help and hinder New Zealand’s level of innovation. Results show that while inventiveness is an important cultural trait, a trait based in New Zealand’s history as a pioneering nation, there are other cultural factors such as a ‘make do’ attitude, the tall poppy syndrome, and an emphasis on lifestyle which potentially limit the innovation performance of New Zealand.

Water Management in the Camargue Biosphere Reserve: Insights from Comparative Mental Models Analysis

Mathevet, R., M. Etienne, T. Lynam, and C. Calvet. 2011. Water management in the Camargue Biosphere Reserve: insights from comparative mental models analysis. Ecology and Society 16(1): 43. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-04007-160143

HPV AWARENESS AMONG LATINA IMMIGRANTS AND ANGLO‐AMERICAN WOMEN IN THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES: CULTURAL MODELS OF CERVICAL CANCER RISK FACTORS AND BELIEFS

Latinas have higher cervical cancer age-adjusted incidence and mortality rates, and present with more advanced disease compared to non-Latino whites. This study used a cross-sectional mixed methods survey design, exploring knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding the human papillomavirus (HPV), the HPV vaccine, and cervical cancer screening with four groups of women (Mexican, Honduran, Puerto-Rican, Anglo American; n=80) attending low-income health clinics along with one group of Latina health care workers (n=17). Data analyses included univariate frequency distributions and one-way ANOVA tests for quantitative data, thematic and content analysis of qualitative data, and cultural consensus analysis using the covariance method to compare groups. Results indicate overall cultural consensus for the five subgroups for both the agree/disagree questions and rankings on cervical cancer risk factors. However, differences were found between Latina women compared to Anglo American patients and health care clinic workers around birth control practices as possible causal factors for cervical cancer. Other findings suggested greater awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine among Anglo American and Puerto Rican women compared to Mexican and Honduran women. Mexican and Honduran women were less likely to be aware of HPV and the HPV vaccine, and more likely to be uninsured and without a regular health care provider. Results point to the need to assess knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs in specific subgroups experiencing cervical cancer disparities to identify target areas for health education. Study findings will be used to inform the development and pilot testing of health education curriculum modules for cervical cancer prevention.

Strategies to maximise cervical cancer screening rates among older Hong Kong Chinese women – a cultural consensus analysis study

Strategies to maximise cervical cancer screening rates among older Hong Kong Chinese women – a cultural consensus analysis study

Is Meat Flavor a Factor in Hunters’ Prey Choice Decisions?

By focusing on the caloric composition of hunted prey species, optimal foraging research has shown that hunters usually make economically rational prey choice decisions. However, research by meat scientists suggests that the gustatory appeal of wildlife meats may vary dramatically. In this study, behavioral research indicates that Mayangna and Miskito hunters in Nicaragua inconsistently pursue multiple prey types in the optimal diet set. We use cognitive methods, including unconstrained pile sorts and cultural consensus analysis, to investigate the hypothesis that these partial preferences are influenced by considerations of meat flavor. Native informants exhibit high agreement on the relative appeal of different meats. Given the absence of other noteworthy differences between spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi) and howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata), the unappealing flavor of howler monkeys seems to be a factor in the partial preference for this species.

Conhecimento ecológico tradicional sobre fruteiras para pesca na Comunidade de Estirão Comprido, Barão de Melgaço - Pantanal Matogrossense

Esta pesquisa aborda o conhecimento ecológico tradicional de fruteiras na comunidade de Estirão Comprido, localizada às margens do Rio Cuiabá, Barão de Melgaço, Pantanal Matogrossense. Foram entrevistados 20 pescadores, utilizando-se a técnica de listagem livre, a qual foi analisada pelo índice de saliência de Smith e análise de consenso cultural, com o programa ANTHROPAC 4.0. Os resultados mostraram que o conhecimento ecológico tradicional sobre fruteiras foi de 30 espécies distribuídas em 21 famílias de plantas. A análise de índice de saliência de Smith mostrou quatro rupturas quanto à ordenação e frequência de respostas, sendo que a primeira contemplou uma espécie, a segunda oito espécies, a terceira quatro espécies e a quarta ruptura 17 espécies. O consenso cultural dos pescadores sobre o conhecimento ecológico tradicional concentrou-se em nove espécies de fruteiras: parada, coquinho, marmelada, roncador, sardinha, timbó, acaiá, jenipava e taiuiá, verificado pela relação entre fatores, onde o primeiro fator foi aproximadamente nove vezes maior que o segundo fator com probabilidade = 0,951. O estudo evidenciou que esta comunidade pantaneira apresenta um conhecimento sobre as fruteiras que são a base da cadeia alimentar das espécies de peixes de valor comercial.

Using freelisting to understand shared decision making in ADHD: Parents’ and pediatricians’ perspectives

Objective To compare and contrast notions of ADHD among pediatricians and parents of affected children to understand the perspectives they bring to shared decision making (SDM). Methods In this freelisting study, 60 parents of children with ADHD and 30 primary care pediatricians listed words reflecting their understanding of (1) Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), (2) getting/offering help for ADHD, (3) talking to doctors/families about ADHD, and (4) “mental health.” Smith's salience score established terms that were salient and cultural consensus analysis identified variation within subgroups of participants. Results Parents’ terms reflected ADHD's effects on the child and family, while clinicians often mentioned school. Lists suggested differing needs and goals for clinicians and subgroups of parents in SDM: “time” for clinicians, “learning” and “understanding” for non-college educated parents, and “comfort” and “relief” for college educated parents. Neither parents nor clinicians framed ADHD in the same way as “mental health.” Conclusion Parents and clinicians, who conceptualize ADHD differently, should negotiate a shared understanding of ADHD as a basis for SDM. Treatment discussions should be tailored to encompass families’ varied emotional and educational needs. Practice implications Fostering SDM in primary care is consonant with notions of ADHD as distinct from mental health.

Finding Common Ground in the Commons: Intracultural Variation in Users' Conceptions of Coastal Fisheries Issues

Population growth in U.S. coastal areas has spawned conflicts due to increasing competition between commercial and leisure uses of coastal resources. Organizations representing different user groups routinely misrepresent the causes and severity of environmental stresses to further their political and economic agendas, often predicting extinctions of fish and shellfish and undermining balanced and reasoned management alternatives. This article illustrates this phenomenon with data on conflicts stemming from perceived problems concerning marine resources involving recreational and commercial fishers, with additional attention to managers' roles in such disputes. Cultural consensus analysis is used to understand variation in cultural conceptions concerning coastal resource problems among the different groups. Finally, the method's application for resolving environmental conflicts is discussed.

Vanua and the People of the Fijian Highlands: Understanding Sense of Place in the Context of Nature-Based Tourism Development

Sense of place meanings were addressed with Fijian Highlanders experiencing nature-based tourism development. Using cultural consensus analysis we found that sense of place was represented through multiple themes, yet Fijian Highlanders did not show a high degree of consensus or homogeneity with respect to sense of place. This lack of homogeneity may be due to a number of factors including, but not limited to, the introduction of a new economic option into the villages, inherent differences between individuals who were born in the village versus those who have moved into the village due to marriage, spatial scale differences, and/or the transitory nature of younger residents. Looking toward the future, the authors explore the potential outcomes of additional research with similar populations and/or methods.

A pilot study using Cultural Consensus Analysis to measure Systems-Based Practice performance

Objectives: This pilot study was designed to compare the performance of ‘relationship-based’ statements from a cultural consensus analysis, a standard anthropological technique for measuring value differences, with ‘gold standard’ patient and nursing satisfaction surveys often used in 360° evaluation of the systems-based practice competency. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional correlation study in a teaching clinic in the United States. A single research assistant approached a convenience sample of ten residents, ten clinic staff, and ten patients per resident (120 participants). The cumulative scores for each resident on patient and nursing satisfaction surveys were compared to the average difference in cultural consensus analysis ranking between patient or nurse and the resident for two statements using Spearman rank correlation coefficients. These statements were selected because they represent the ‘relationship-based care’ pole in a previously validated conceptual model of clinic. Results: The correlation between patient satisfaction cumulative scores and the difference in patient and resident cultural consensus analysis rankings on ‘goals’ was -0.527 (less difference between residents’ and patients’ value ranking correlates with higher satisfaction). The correlation with ‘changes’ was -0.351. The correlation between nursing satisfaction cumulative scores and the difference in nursing staff and resident cultural consensus analysis rankings on ‘goals’ was -0.086. The correlation with ‘changes’ was -0.415. Conclusions: Systems-based practice is a notoriously difficult competency to evaluate. These moderate correlations in the expected direction between commonly used 360° evaluation instruments and this cultural consensus analysis tool suggest that it can provide an alternative measure of this competency.

Latino Definitions of Success: A Cultural Model of Intercultural Competence

The present study sought to examine Latino intercultural competence via two separate methodologies. Phase 1 entailed discovering and generating themes regarding the features of intercultural competence based on semistructured interviews of 15 Latino adults. Phase 2 included conducting a cultural consensus analysis from the quantitative responses of 46 Latino adults to determine the cultural model of intercultural competence. The major results indicated that the participants, despite variations in socioeconomic and generational statuses, shared a common knowledge base regarding the competencies needed for Latinos to successfully navigate different cultures. Overall, the cultural model of Latino intercultural competence includes a set of skills that integrates traditional cultural values along with attributes of self-efficacy. The findings are discussed within a competence-based conceptualization of cultural adaptation and potential advancements in acculturation research.

Concepts of Social Justice as a Cultural Consensus: Starting Points for College Students of Different Political Persuasions

Promoting social justice is popular in American colleges, though the specific concepts and values associated with social justice tend to be inconsistently articulated. Noting that diverse possible definitions for social justice seem to underlie some controversies surrounding the concept, the authors conducted a study that employs a version of cultural consensus analysis to investigate actual college student definitions of conditions and actions they associate with social justice. Comparing students who identify as liberal politically with students who identify as conservative politically demonstrates more similarities than differences, with most students putting particular emphasis on equal rights, basic needs, education, and community service. At the same time, students who identify as liberal politically tended to put more emphasis on environmental issues while students who identify as conservative tended to put more emphasis on charity and just policy. Recognizing these commonalities and differences has implications for promoting values associated with social justice as part of a college education.

Conhecimento ecológico tradicional sobre plantas cultivadas pelos pescadores da comunidade Estirão Comprido, Pantanal matogrossense, Brasil

Esta pesquisa situa-se no campo da etnoecologia e aborda o conhecimento ecológico tradicional (CET) sobre plantas cultivadas na comunidade de Estirão Comprido, rio Cuiabá, Barão de Melgaço, Pantanal matogrossense. Foram entrevistados 22 pescadores para a elaboração da lista livre de plantas. Para a análise da lista, foram utilizados: índice de saliência de Smith, análise de consenso cultural, similaridade e dissimilaridade com escalonamento multidimensional e técnica de empilhamento. O programa ANTHROPAC 4.0 foi utilizado para o tratamento estatístico dos dados. Por meio do índice de saliência de Smith, foram identificadas seis rupturas no domínio cultural sobre plantas cultivadas, concentrando-se em 116 etnoespécies. Laranja e milho foram citados com maior frequência e em primeiro lugar na lista, portanto, encontram-se na primeira ruptura da lista livre com índices de Smith 0,728 e 0,711, respectivamente. A análise de consenso cultural mostrou que o CET sobre plantas cultivadas caracteriza um consenso, concentrando-se em 18 etnoespécies. A análise de empilhamento evidenciou que o conhecimento sobre plantas está relacionado aos diferentes tipos de uso. Neste contexto, as possibilidades de uso e manejo aqui evidenciadas podem contribuir para a elaboração de políticas públicas destinadas à conservação da biodiversidade ecológica e cultural.

Wading and Jumping into a New Job—Exploring Dynamics of Knowledge Flow for Systems Engineers

Engineering companies are growing increasingly concerned with identifying ways to effectively transfer knowledge, both to new employees and between employees who collaborate to develop new products. Effective knowledge capture is difficult in research and development contexts where design knowledge is rapidly changing and often poorly documented. This paper uses a case study at a small engineering company to suggest that effective knowledge transfer must be both relational (asking intelligent questions of mentors who are taxed for time) and procedural (using documentation to record how decisions are made). Cultural consensus analysis identifies two distinct cultural domains regarding effective socialization for new systems engineers. Waders advocate guided introduction, while Jumpers advocate immediate responsibility. These common themes for companies dealing with rapidly changing knowledge offer insights to scholars interested in studying the broader domain of anthropology of work.

Changing Ethnobotanical Knowledge of the Roviana People, Solomon Islands: Quantitative Approaches to its Correlation with Modernization

This study examines the acculturation of ethnobotanical knowledge in association with modernization by analyzing similarities and differences within a language group, the Roviana people of the Solomon Islands. Cultural consensus analysis and evaluation of either village-level or individual-level modernity were performed for seven villages. In one modernized and one less modernized village, detailed socioeconomic data at the individual level were collected. Intervillage variation of knowledge correlated with modernity only when the villages were referenced to the less modernized villages, while there was no correlation when the most modernized village was used as the base knowledge. An informant’s knowledge in the less modernized village was affected by socioeconomic factors, but this was not observed in the modernized village. From these results, I suggest that modern knowledge is easily integrated into the ethnobotanical knowledge system but is not directly related to the loss of indigenous botanical knowledge.

Student and Faculty Perceptions of Innovative Teaching

This study explored student and faculty perceptions of innovative teaching. Forty-eight faculty and 52 students at a southeastern university participated in interviews during which they were asked to free-list characteristics of innovative teaching. At the second stage of the study, separate lists for faculty and students were developed and e-mailed to participants, which produced faculty and student profiles of perceived characteristics of innovative teaching. Interestingly, although cultural consensus analysis indicated within-sample agreement for the faculty and student samples, the descriptors/characteristics of innovative teaching and their rankings differed for the two samples. Implications for education are discussed.

Cultural consonance, a 5HT2A receptor polymorphism, and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal study of gene × culture interaction in urban Brazil

In this study in urban Brazil we examine, as a predictor of depressive symptoms, the interaction between a single nucleotide polymorphism in the 2A receptor in the serotonin system (-1438G/A) and cultural consonance in family life, a measure of the degree to which an individual perceives her family as corresponding to a widely shared cultural model of the prototypical family. A community sample of 144 adults was followed over a 2-year-period. Cultural consonance in family life was assessed by linking individuals' perceptions of their own families with a shared cultural model of the family derived from cultural consensus analysis. The -1438G/A polymorphism in the 2A serotonin receptor was genotyped using a standard protocol for DNA extracted from leukocytes. Covariates included age, sex, socioeconomic status, and stressful life events. Cultural consonance in family life was prospectively associated with depressive symptoms. In addition, the interaction between genotype and cultural consonance in family life was significant. For individuals with the A/A variant of the -1438G/A polymorphism of the 2A receptor gene, the effect of cultural consonance in family life on depressive symptoms over a 2-year-period was larger (beta = -0.533, P < 0.01) than those effects for individuals with either the G/A (beta = -0.280, P < 0.10) or G/G (beta = -0.272, P < 0.05) variants. These results are consistent with a process in which genotype moderates the effects of culturally meaningful social experience on depressive symptoms.

Use of cultural consensus analysis to evaluate expert feedback of median safety

Cultural consensus analysis is a statistical method that can be used to assess participant responses to survey questions. The technique concurrently estimates the knowledge of each survey participant and estimates the culturally correct answer to each question asked, based on the existence of consensus among survey participants. The main objectives of this paper are to present the cultural consensus methodology and apply it to a set of median design and safety survey data that were collected using the Delphi method. A total of 21 Delphi survey participants were asked to answer research questions related to cross-median crashes. It was found that the Delphi panel had agreeable opinions with respect to the association of average daily traffic (ADT) and heavy vehicle percentage combination on the risk of cross-median crashes; relative importance of additional factors, other than ADT, median width, and crash history that may contribute to cross-median crashes; and, the relative importance of geometric factors that may be associated with the likelihood of cross-median crashes. Therefore, the findings from the cultural consensus analysis indicate that the expert panel selected to participate in the Delphi survey shared a common knowledge pool relative to the association between median design and safety. There were, however, diverse opinions regarding median barrier type and its preferred placement location. The panel showed a higher level of knowledge on the relative importance regarding the association of geometric factors on cross-median crashes likelihood than on other issues considered. The results of the cultural consensus analysis of the present median design and safety survey data could be used to design a focused field study of median safety.

Community Participatory Research in HIV/AIDS Prevention: An Exploration of Participation and Consensus

This article reports on an investigation into the extent to which individual involvement in community participatory research activities on HIV/AIDS created agreement or consensus among participants from four Malawian communities about the causes, risks, and behaviours associated with AIDS transmission in their communities. In this research, cultural consensus analysis was used in an exploratory manner to measure the level of agreement among participants prior to and immediately following participation in community participatory workshops. The results demonstrate variability by community and gender in the levels of consensus, or agreement, achieved through the workshops. These findings suggest that consensus is not an automatic outcome of participation in small group interventions and in some cases can result in less agreement on community issues around HIV. Moreover, we lack a clear understanding of how consensus contributes to desired or positive change. Also discussed is the potential utility of cultural consensus analysis as a tool in evaluating the effectiveness of community participatory interventions.

Using Cultural Consensus Analysis to Improve a Safety Campaign for Farmworkers

For the past four years, researchers at the Florida Prevention Research Center, along with community partners that include the Farmworker Association of Florida, and the Collier County Health Department and several large citrus companies, have been evaluating an eye safety program targeted at citrus harvesters. We have used a variety of field methods to inform the development of a social marketing campaign that will attempt to convince workers to wear safety glasses when they pick. It is difficult to convince workers to wear safety glasses because many believe it slows down the rate of picking, which has an impact on earnings. We have achieved the most success so far by using trained community health workers called "promotores" who are citrus pickers themselves and who work alongside their peers, dispensing safety glasses, advice and first aid. In our research, we found that harvesting crews that have one of these "promotores" have increased their use of safety glasses from zero to over 30%.