Problems and Coping Strategies in Conducting Comparative Research in School Bullying Between China and Norway

Abstract

Drawn from the empirical experiences of conducting a cross-cultural qualitative research, this chapter presents a list of issues that might be encountered by qualitative researchers, and demonstrates the strategies applied in this study to eliminate the cross-cultural differences and misunderstandings. The encountered problems are illustrated from three perspectives: first, problems relating to participants’ diverse understandings of the research subjects. For example, in this study, the concept of school bullying (Sharp and Smith in School bullying: insights and perspectives. Routledge, 2002; Smith in The nature of school bullying: A cross-national perspective. Psychology Press, 1999), the dynamics of bullying (Swearer et al. in J Emotional Abuse 2:95–121, 2001; Thornberg in Confero: Essays Educ Philos Polit 3:161–203, 2015), as well as bullying prevention and intervention (Espelage et al. in Bullying in American schools: asocial-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention. Routledge, 2004; Polanin et al. Sch Psychol Rev 41:47, 2012) are all recognized and dealt with very differently between Norway and China. Second, problems relating to various data interpretation of the researchers from different cultures. And third, other problems related to mutual understandings and smooth communication with co-workers in an international research team. The problems appear in various stages of the research process including research design, data collection, and data analysis.