John and Beatrice Whiting’s Contributions to the Cross-Cultural Study of Human Development: Their Values, Goals, Norms, and Practices

The Whiting vision of a holistic, interdisciplinary, cross-cultural understanding of human development continues today. The Whiting team approach had an ethos, core intellectual projects, and ways of working-their practices, norms, goals, and values. The Whitings believed that the cultural learning environment (CLE) is a powerful influence on development, but not the only one. The Whitings asked descriptive, process, causal, and functional questions and worked with international teams on holistic studies of local communities which then were used for comparative studies. They were open to a wide range of theories, used integrated, mixed methods, shared their data, and included local students and researchers as apprentices or colleagues. Their research ethos was egalitarian, pragmatic, and generative. The articles in this special section exemplify the continuing relevance of this model. There are new units of analysis for understanding CLEs in globalizing settings across space and time, new biological measures, and new kinds of reciprocal international team collaborations. New technical aides to measurement are available, such as the use of digital video, the use of new research designs, and a greater concern with policy, practice, and intervention. The conceptual framework of the CLE continues to produce new empirical evidence in the United States, the European Union, and around the world.