Keskin & Blalock
Volume 4, Issue 2, Fall 2014
24
Delta Journal of Education
ISSN 2160-9179
Published by Delta State University
Acculturation of Children in the United States: The Explicit
Reference to Theory within Empirical Research*
Burhanettin Keskin
Gregory A. Blalock
The University of Mississippi
Columbus State University
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the explicit reference to theory in published
empirical studies on child acculturation and schooling within the United States. By using a
computerized database search of peer-reviewed publications, the researchers found and
examined twenty-five studies of student acculturation. Findings of this analysis indicated that
seventy-two percent of the empirically based studies explicitly referenced theory. The most
common theories explicitly referenced within the studies include Berry’s acculturation theory
(1993, 1997, or 2003) and Bronfenbrenner's human ecological framework (1979). The authors
addressed concerns about whether or not, as well as how, authors explicitly referenced theory
within publications. A discussion of the benefits of explicitly referencing theory with
implications for future research follows.
Keywords: child acculturation theory, use of theory, explicit use of theory, usefulness of
theory
*
The authors presented this research at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Educational Research
Association, Sarasota, Florida (February 2013). Please address correspondence concerning this
article to Burhanettin Keskin, Department of Teacher Education, University of Mississippi,
University, Mississippi, 38677. E-mail: [email protected]
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Acculturation of Children in the United States: The Explicit Reference
to Theory within Empirical Research
Acculturation refers to the attainment of a new culture different from one’s own. This
includes both an individual’s attainment of a new culture, as in the case of an immigrant
adopting a new country’s culture, as well as the attainment of another society’s culture by a
social group (Bolaffi, 2003). The first refers to an individual level of acculturation while the
latter refers to acculturation at the level of the social group level. Scholars investigated two main
types of acculturation: reciprocal and asymmetric (see Beiser, Dion, Gotowiec, Hyman, & Vu,
1995; Lebedeva & Tatarko, 2013; Sluzki, 1979). Reciprocal acculturation occurs when there is a
bi-directional exchange of cultural traits between two cultures that result in cultural changes in
each culture. Unlike reciprocal acculturation that involves mutual cultural exchanges, in
asymmetric acculturation the ‘inferior’ culture adapts the cultural traits of the dominant culture
(Bolaffi, 2003).
The United States’ population will likely experience an increase in migration from
foreign countries over the next four decades (Ortman & Guarneri, 2009). Indeed, as of 2010,
fully one third of the foreign-born population migrated to the United States within the last decade
(Grieco et al., 2012). In that year, the foreign-born population was typically younger (i.e., half
were between the ages of 18 and 44 compared to one third of the native-born population) and
more likely to have given birth in the previous twelve months (Grieco et al., 2012). These
statistics, combined with the fact that the foreign-born are more likely than native-born to live in
poverty, suggest that schools over the next several decades will face the increasing challenge of
addressing the connection between immigration, poverty, and education. As the schools evolve
and reflect the increasing diversity of students, a disproportionate number of whom will live at or
near the poverty level, it will be increasingly important that researchers, policymakers, and
educators have a better understanding of the mechanisms and effects of acculturation.
Flores, Ojeda, Yu-Ping, Gee, and Lee, (2006) note that American schools within the
United States reflect White American values. As a result, an increasing number of minority
students must contend with acculturation issues as they progress through their educational career
in the schools. Acculturation can affect students’ academic success (Buenning & Tollefson,
1987; Ramos & Sánchez, 1995; Sakamoto & Xie, 2006), educational persistence (Castillo,
Conoley, & Brossart, 2004; Flores et al., 2006), health (Black & Markides 1993; Landrine,
Richardson, Klonoff, & Flay, 1994; Unger et al. 2000), second language acquisition (Schumann,
1986), and the tendency toward violent behavior (Sanderson, Coker, Roberts, Tortolero, &
Reininger, 2004). Clearly, as the minority population in the United States continues to grow it is
becoming increasingly important to understand how acculturation, pedagogy, and school
environments interact to support or undermine one’s education.
While research over the last two decades has increasingly focused on the issues of
acculturation within the school environment for minority students, the theoretical grounding for
1
As discussed in the method section, theory in this study included other similar terms such as
perspective, model, theoretical framework, view, and hypothesis.
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such research varies widely. As this literature base grows, it is important for researchers to
understand how theory informs such studies. Theory provides an explanation that relates to
‘fact’ or ‘data’ (Homans, 1964) and offers guidance for practice (Johnson-Odim, 2001). While
an author may make explicit reference to theory within a publication, how that author actually
employs the theory, is important. The use of theory within research provides an organized,
systematic way of making sense of the data while providing researchers a vehicle to examine and
improve their hypotheses. Further, theory is an important part of making predictions about the
future (Klein &White, 1996). Finally, the use of theory in an explicit way helps readers to
perceive the study from a broader perspective and makes it easier for them to assess the basis of
a study’s design (Coleman & Ganong, 1990).
A majority of researchers recognize the importance of employing theory within research
as a way of understanding how variables affect outcome. The use of theory provides a way to
position and communicate the state of a field of study to spur ongoing research in an organized
manner. Karl Popper’s (1982) perception of theories provides us with a better understanding of
their function. He stated that scientific theories are “nets” to catch the reality of our world.
Using this metaphor, just as a better net will catch more of what one seeks, a better theory will
account for more of the real world. By testing various theories and eliminating those that explain
less of our reality, “we may succeed in improving our theories … in making nets which are better
and better adapted to catch our fish, the real world” (Popper, 1982, p.42).
As school acculturation takes on increasing importance in addressing issues of race,
ethnicity, and poverty in the United States, it is paramount that researchers ground their work in
theory to evolve our phenomenological understandings and further refine theoretical models.
This research sought to analyze the United States’ school-based acculturation literature to
determine the extent to which theory informed empirical research explicitly. Research questions
guiding this study were as follows:
(1) How many published studies were empirical in nature?
(2) Of the published empirical studies how many explicitly referenced theory?
(3) If reference to a theory occurred in a publication, did that reference occur in the
abstract?
Methods
In this quantitative study, each author independently conducted a general computerized
search followed by more specific searches utilizing several databases (e.g., JSTOR, PsychInfo,
Social Science Abstract, and Sociological Abstracts) to find published journal articles with the
keywords ‘acculturation’ and ‘school’ within the title. The following criteria guided the selection
of articles for review and analysis:
(1) Only original, peer reviewed journal articles comprised the focus of the study. The
study did not examine meta-analyses and literature reviews.
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(2) Studies selected contained both ‘acculturation’ and ‘school’ in their titles (to
eliminate those not primarily focused on the acculturation of children in schools).
(3) The study reviewed only articles related to acculturation in schools in the United
States.
(4) The authors compared their search results and produced a master list of articles to
represent the overall dataset.
Each author independently reviewed each of the articles within the dataset to determine
(a) how many articles explicitly referenced theory as a part of empirical research, (b) the
identification of the theory discussed in the article, and (c) where in the article the use of theory
occurred. If a paper used the term ‘theory’ or other similar terms (such as perspective, model,
theoretical framework, view, and hypothesis) to present research questions, to explain the topic
examined, or to interpret research findings, it was coded as ‘theory’ for the purposes of this
analysis. In this way, an inclusive investigation of the use of ‘theory’ in empirical studies
occurred as much as possible (Pettigrew & McKechnie, 2001). Following the independent
analysis of each article, the authors compared their results and discussed any disagreements to
arrive at the results. The use of Cohen’s (1960) kappa coefficient provided an assessment of
inter-rater reliability.
Results
The researchers agreed on 25 studies (see Appendix 1 for the list of the studies examined
in this research). Each investigator then independently examined the articles to determine which
explicitly discussed theory in conjunction with empirical research. The initial inter-rater
reliability, determined by computing Cohen’s (1960) kappa coefficient, was 0.64 (considered as
substantial agreement according to Landis & Koch, 1977). After discussing the initial results,
complete agreement was reached (Cohen’s kappa = 1).
Overall results showed that seventy-two percent of the studies (18 out of 25) explicitly
referenced theory while twenty-eight percent of the studies (7 out of 25) did not. While none of
the studies explicitly referenced a theory within the abstract, 17 referenced theory in the
introduction, with ten of those referencing theory within the discussion as well. Of the eighteen
that referenced theory as a part of an empirical study, one referenced theory only within the
discussion/conclusion section of the study (see Table 1). A wide variety of theories appeared in
the empirical literature (see Footnote 1), but of these Berry’s acculturation model (Berry, 1993,
1997, 2003) and Bronfenbrenner’s human ecological framework (1979) occurred most often, but
only in 16% and 12% of the articles respectively.
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Table 1
Location of the Theory Referenced within Empirical Studies of School Acculturation in the U. S.
Article Section
Number of
times
Abstract
0
Introduction
17
Results
0
Discussion/Conclusion
11
Abstract only
0
Introduction only
7
Results only
0
Discussion/Conclusion only
1
Abstract, Introduction, Results, and Discussion
0
Introduction, Results, and Discussion
0
Introduction and Discussion
10
Discussion
It is important to note that almost three-quarters of the empirical studies on school
acculturation in the United States examined in this research explicitly referenced theory. The
most commonly used theories were Berry’s (1993, 1997, 2003) acculturation framework and
Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) human ecological framework.
While overtly referencing theory is a common practice, there are several issues to
consider (see Keskin, 2006; 2013 and Pettigrew & McKechnie, 2001 for similar concerns). First,
none of the articles referencing theory did so in the abstract of the study. The authors of the
present study contend that it is important to mention the theory within the abstract of the study
because it is typically the most easily visible and widely accessible part of a publication. That is,
while the full texts of most articles may not be readily available, most abstracts (if not all) are
usually accessible. If a researcher were trying to analyze the research literature within a specific
genre (in this case, school acculturation in the United States) as it relates to a specific theory, it
would be easier to locate the relevant publications when reference to theory occurs in the
abstract. Additionally, the explicit use of theory within the abstract of an article would also
make it easier for researchers to survey the existing literature for the most common theories
employed within a particular genre. This might be of particular interest when one is trying to
determine the theoretical evolution or dominant paradigm of a specific field of study over time.
When employing a theory, it is important to explicitly state its use early in the paper (i.e.,
within the introduction or methods section) rather than later (i.e., in the discussion section).
Contextualizing a study within a particular theoretical framework early in the article helps the
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reader to better interpret the study’s foundation and subsequent findings. Further, early
understanding of the theoretical underpinnings may provide better guidance to the reader in the
process of developing further research within that genre.
Another issue related to the explicit reference of theory that deserves attention is that of
proper citation. In some publications examined in this study, the authors mentioned theory but
without a reference or explanation. In such cases, it is difficult to find out more about the theory
or make judgments about how it contributed to the research in question. Not providing a clear
indication of the theoretical foundation of a study generates ambiguity for the reader. Related to
this is the inconsistency in how authors reference a given theory. For instance, while the terms
‘model’ and ‘theory’ actually refer to two different concepts, their use throughout the literature
while referring to a single theoretical framework was arbitrary. In addition, the analysis revealed
that while several studies explicitly referenced a particular theory, the actual use of that theory
was ambiguous at best. For instance, Maldonado, Kushner, Barr, and Korz (2009) explicitly
referenced Phinney’s model (1992) without clearly connecting it to their study’s framework or
results.
The educational importance of this current study is that it calls researchers’ attention to
an important issue in the literature: explicitly and clearly referencing theory. Without such
attention to detail, the today’s research literature may unnecessarily create further ambiguity
within genres, such as school acculturation, that are nuanced and multifaceted in nature. The
authors suggest that future researchers explicitly and clearly refer to their use of applicable
theory when investigating school acculturation in the United States. This will enhance the ability
of authors to improve the ‘nets’ used to capture data related to school acculturation. As a result,
policymakers and practitioners will be in a much better position to know when and how to apply
research findings to practice.
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