Research Methodologies
The initial research paper is focused on the evaluation of the research methodology used in the Hyde’s study “Multicultural development in human services agencies: Challenges and solutions”. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the theoretical framework of the study, its literature review, instruments used in data collection, results and conclusions derived from the analyzed data. At first, the theoretical framework of the research is investigated, as well as the appropriateness of the selection of literature, methodology and data for the research question and empirical results of the study. Finally, the ethical issues within the theoretical framework of the study are analyzed and conclusions concerning implications of these ethical considerations on the study are provided.
The primarily topic, raised for discussion in the analyzed paper, is the multicultural development in human services agencies. The main research question within the study is the identification of the problems on the road of the multicultural development within human services agencies and the determination of the solutions for these problems. The great amount of research addressed the problems of multicultural development within organizations. Chesler (1994), Guitierrez & Nadra (1996), Jackson & Holvino (1988) in their studies focused on the importance of the multicultural development in the organizational structure for the establishment of effective functioning within the organization. The studies also focused on the possible approaches to the achievement of the effective changes in the organizational structure in order to make it multicultural. At the same time, the evidence of the barriers which organization faces on the road of their multicultural development was not in focus of most empirical studies on the topic. Several projects, such as Cultural Competence Learning Initiative (CCLI), were initiated on the governmental level, to address the problem of the integration of multicultural attitude in non-profit organizations. However these projects were limited by the analysis of challenges that non-profit organizations face in the process of the multicultural development and have not produced the solutions to overcome these changes.
The research performed by Cheryl Hyde aims to solve the existent indeterminacy in the possible ways of the cultural competence integration within the human service organizations (Hyde, 2004). The research builds the theoretical framework for the investigation of the challenges, that organizations face on their road to multicultural development based on the qualitative analysis and produces the solutions to overcome the verified challenges. In order to achieve this goal Cheryl Hyde provides the audience with the theoretical concept of the multicultural development, identifies the essential characteristics of the modern human service organization and the key drivers of the modern organizational changes. These empirical findings of the author are expressed through the overview of the existent literature on the topic and help to form the research hypothesis and research methods. The theoretical framework of the research familiarizes the reader with the concepts of multicultural development, a range of intervention models that forms the basis of the multicultural change and the risk factors that organizations face on their road to change. The provision …
