What do Guatemalans think of Bolivia? Bolivians of Guatemala? Outsiders of both? Impact Hub member Colin Scott, a
freelance applied research and program evaluation consultant, is looking to answer these specific yet important
questions.
When a foreigner moves to live in a new country for an extended period of time, his or her perception of
the country often changes over the course of his or her stay, and again if they go back
home. Colin has set up a study to examine this change in a person’s opinion of a country, and
he’s starting with Guatemala and Bolivia.
The study will focus on the factors in these countries that provide good or bad responses from people who move there,
and then apply the findings elsewhere. The data collected would be primarily used to help organizations adjust their
cross-cultural orientation programs, and their understanding of human behavior and mental processes under diverse
cultural conditions. For example, organizations might apply these insights in helping make the transition to a new country
as smooth and comfortable as possible for it’s staff and visitors.
The study currently has around twenty-five participating organizations. Data collecting has been going on for seven
months, starting in July of last year, and is to be completed by the end of 2015. After this study is over, Colin’s group
will consider repeating the study in another part of the world, such as Asia or Europe.
Colin is looking for people to participate in the study. Anyone who either is moving to these countries, or will be in them
for at least one month, can participate. Any nationality is fine as well. The goal is to reach eighty participants per
country in the near future. To take the survey, just go to this link: http://bitly.com/
We wish Colin the best of luck, and look forward to learning more about the valuable lessons learned from his
research.
