Psychosocial Measures for Asian American Populations: Tools for Direct Practice and Research

About This Site

I developed this site as a resource for practitioners and researchers working with Asian and Pacific Islander populations. We have each struggled to find valid and reliable measures to use with our clients and study participants. Not being able to carefully assess a measure's performance with an API group means that we are left with some uncertainty whether our findings reflect respondent experiences or measurement error. Additionally, the translation of an instrument into an API language is not only costly but can be conceptually difficult. Having an opportunity to talk with other practitioners and researchers who have struggled with these same issues improves our practice and our research.

In 1999 I had the privilege of meeting Mr. and Mrs. Okura when I spent a tremendous week in Washington with 9 other Okura Fellows to learn about mental health service delivery and policy making. As the days unfolded talking to mental health practitioners, agency directors and policy makers it became apparent to me that collectively we have a wealth of experience and knowledge about measurement issues with APIs but no vehicle by which to share it. It is my hope that this web site will become such a tool. Its purpose is to connect practitioners and researchers dedicated to understanding the experiences of API communities. With the generous help of the Columbia University Center for New Media in Teaching and Learning this web site was brought to fruition.

I hope that you will use it not only to find information but to find other professionals who are working in similar areas, inititate a contact, and have a conversation. By making these linkages, I hope that we will all be better able to articulate the needs and experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander communities.

Marianne Yoshioka
Associate Professor
Columbia University School of Social Work
mry5@columbia.edu

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