Establishing Multicultural Validity: A Culturally Responsive Approach to Trustworthiness in Archival Research

From a culturally responsive research (CRR) perspective, trustworthiness is rooted in culture. The multicultural validity framework acknowledges that inquiry is shaped by cultural context and power and offers guidance for establishing trustworthiness. This article applies the framework to archival research, where researchers engage historical texts rather than living participants. We explore the challenges of maintaining cultural responsiveness without direct community interaction and reflect on how our team dynamics and engagement with materials shaped our findings. By emphasizing the role of archival and researcher-generated texts, we extend the multicultural validity framework and offer a nuanced approach to addressing validity in CRR.