#CULTURAL NOTION DEFINITION SERIES#
The cultural consensus model is designed to estimate the answers to a series of questions, when the answers are unknown. In this case, the accuracy of the aggregated responses in estimating the “true” answers can be calculated from the number of subjects and the average Pearson correlation coefficient between all pairs of subjects. Validity of an aggregation is a function of the number of units being combined and the level of agreement among the units. Reliability theory from psychology (specifically, the reliability coefficient), may be applied to aggregations across subjects, rather than questions, to estimate the accuracy or validity of the aggregated responses. The combined, independent responses will be more accurate than will the responses of each individual included in the aggregation. Another method is to ask the questions of a sample of subjects and then use a simple aggregation or majority rule to combine independent responses across subjects to estimate the answers. One such method is to use the majority opinion of a panel of experts, such as a “consensus panel.” Although this method may have content validity, the estimated answers may be biased due to the interpersonal dynamics of interaction and status among the panel members (nonindependence). When the answers to a series of questions are unknown, as is the case when estimating beliefs, the answers can be estimated with a variety of aggregation techniques. If the answers are sufficiently homogeneous (defined later), then the model estimates the shared beliefs and individual cultural competencies across the set of questions. The cultural consensus model provides a framework for determining if responses to a set of questions are homogeneous. The problem is to estimate beliefs when some degree of heterogeneity is present in responses. When each individual provides a different answer to each question (0% agreement), there is a lack of consensus and no shared beliefs. When agreement on the answers approaches either 100 or 0%, the conclusion is straightforward: when all individuals provide identical answers (100% agreement), there is complete consensus and sharing of beliefs regarding the culturally correct answers to the questions. Given a set of questions, all on the same topic, shared cultural beliefs or norms regarding the answers can be estimated by aggregating the responses for each question across a sample of culture members. Varying access to and participation in cultural knowledge also contribute to variation and specialization in cultural competence. Because the amount of information in a culture is too large for any one individual to master, individuals know different subsets of the cultural knowledge and thus can vary in their cultural competence. Weller, in Encyclopedia of Social Measurement, 2005 IntroductionĬultural beliefs are beliefs that are learned and shared across groups of people. In the absence of such opportunities, risk-taking behaviors such as underage drinking or sexual activity serve as alternative means of asserting adult status. Some scholars argue that this system of age-based segregation contributes to adolescent risk-taking behaviors by limiting adolescents' opportunities to demonstrate their growing maturity and competence in socially meaningful, approved ways.
Thus, their social world, experienced both in-person and via various media, consists largely of similar-aged peers. Adolescents' daily lives are organized by institutional arrangements, such as compulsory education, that separate them from both familial and nonfamilial adults and from the broader society. In Western industrialized societies, adolescents occupy social roles – and social spaces – that are distinct from those of both children and adults.
Similarly, ideas about what constitutes a risk behavior during adolescence differ across time and place what is viewed as risky and nonnormative in one culture may be accepted in another. Indeed, the cultural markers and developmental milestones associated with the beginning and end of adolescence – and even the extent to which adolescence is considered a distinct life stage – vary widely across cultures. Halpern, in Encyclopedia of Adolescence, 2011 Adolescent Risk Taking in Social ContextĬultural beliefs about what it means to be an adolescent shape our understanding of adolescent risk behavior.