Over the past decade, the importance of cultural competence as a critical facet for the provision of
high quality health care has risen. As such cultural competence has been defined in the context of
health care delivery and providers, specifically focusing on the provider‐patient interaction.
However, research in the health sciences (e.g., biomedical, clinical, health services, and Community
Based Participatory Research (CBPR)) has just recently begun to explore the importance and
linkages between culture and research design, analysis and interpretation.
To date, use of the concept of cultural competence in the context of research, compared to its use in
the context of health care providers in health care setting has been limited. However, with rapid
changes in the cultural diversity of our country, it is anticipated that this transition will necessitate
adjustments in how research that is designed to improve the health status of specific populations is
conducted. These demographic shifts will increasingly require that researchers better understand
the potential role of racial and cultural differences among population groups, how such differences may impact their research study design, analysis and interpretation, and consequently how best to
engage diverse populations in research. For the current work, the term cultural competence for
researchers describes how researchers can be culturally prepared to consider some of the
aforementioned issues.