Enhancing research participation and retention for three ethnically diverse groups.

Abstract: Many researchers naively assume that the methods and research approaches that are useful with European-Americans can also be used with minority populations. Little attention has been paid to the development of culturally appropriate research procedures and a discussion of the limitations of traditional research methodologies. In this article I include the experiences and suggestions for successfully conducting research with minority populations. Key Words: Motivators of Minority Populations; Culturally Appropriate Research Procedures; Retention Strategies of Minorities in Research A central concern of investigators is being able to access research participants and obtain from them the desired information. In this article I review some difficulties usually encountered in accessing and questioning ethnically diverse groups of working women, and the approaches that facilitated not only the initial contact with the respondents, but also retention and completion of an effectiveness trial. The primary purpose of the effectiveness trial was for the author to develop and test the effectiveness of a role conflict reduction intervention. The intervention was designed to: reduce role conflict through encouraging minority women to help each other in establishing priorities, partitioning and separating roles, overlooking role demands, and changing attitudes toward roles in order to maximize satisfaction in a specific role. The intervention study included a pre-test, posttest with follow-up design. The intervention was a sixweek role conflict reduction group that included strategies for empowerment through cognitive restructuring techniques. Changes in psychological well-being (depression, self-esteem, role conflict, life satisfaction scores and sex type), were measured pre and immediate post intervention as well as six months following the intervention for four groups of minority working women, one American Indian (n = 8), two Latina (n = 9, n = 5), and two African American (n = 7, n = 9) (Sims & Napholz, 1996). The overall focus of the interventions was related to empowerment: racial and gender identities were recognized, rescued, and reclaimed through a theme entitled "Recovery of the Self." This "Recovery of the Self " was an intervention that helped women of color recover and reclaim the self through increasing positive self-attribution and self-esteem; to achieve autonomous dignity through self-efficacy, self-mastery, and self-determination; and transform themselves and their situation by developing a critical consciousness. Intervention groups were implemented to help a participant individuate, but not at the expense of her family or group's needs. A balancing was achieved to help the women function with some degree of autonomy within the family and group context, while extending their self-definition (Comas-Diaz, 1994). Tailored recruitment plans for each ethnic group allowed for early identification of recruitment problems and the development of solutions. Based on the literature and my experience, there was no single best approach to successful minority recruitment. Recruitment and retention required similar strategies. COMMONALITIES AMONG THE THREE ETHNIC GROUPS Successful research methods with women of color requires combining traditional research models with sociocultural, ethnoracial, and gender contexts (ComasDiaz & Minrath, 1995). Race was the social variable that transcended and intensified the effects of gender, sexual orientation, class, religion, and other factors among women of color. Being a woman of color meant facing some inherent cultural conflicts, as most women of color tend to be bicultural and/or multicultural. Although biculturalism and multiculturalism can provide exceptional strength and flexibility, they may also cause strain, stress, and identity confusion (Reid, 1988). Another special issue for the women of color was conflict within their multiple identities. …