Christie Meninick
While research has been conducted on Indigenous survey development (Lopez, 2021), few studies have explored how to systematize the survey modification process using a sequential exploratory mixed-methods approach, while also adhering to CARE principles (e.g., collective benefit and authority). In this case study, a leadership survey for women, the Career Aspiration Survey-Revised (CAS-R), was systematically modified through an empirical process that included talking circles, expert interviews, and instrument development. In summary, the CAS-R was modified to operationalize the culturally informed leadership motivations of Indigenous women. Central to the CAS-R modification process was observing cultural congruency. As such, three indigenous conceptual frameworks guided the inductive qualitative processes. Thereafter, the preliminary findings from the talking circles and interviews informed the development of the instrument. Through the research process, a replicable method for survey modification was developed. The systematization of survey modification is critical for tribal data sovereignty and tribal authority over data collection and analysis, as tribes can replicate the process organically within their communities. Key to the entirety of the process was ensuring the project would provide a collective benefit and grant tribes the authority over the modified survey. Culturally congruent surveys for Indigenous people have yet to be widely developed, so this project fills in a gap in the research literature. Critically, the systematization of the survey modification process provides tribes with the means to independently develop culturally congruent survey instruments, allowing for the redistribution of authority over the data collection and the research process from start to finish.