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The intensifying pace of research based on cross-cultural studies in the social sciences necessitates a discussion of the unique challenges of multi-sited research. Given an increasing demand for social scientists to expand their data collection beyond WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic) populations, there is an urgent need for transdisciplinary conversations on the logistical, scientific and ethical considerations inherent to this type of scholarship. As a group of social scientists engaged in cross-cultural research in psychology and anthropology, we hope to guide prospective cross-cultural researchers through some of the complex scientific and ethical challenges involved in such work: (a) study site selection, (b) community involvement and (c) culturally appropriate research methods. We aim to shed light on some of the difficult ethical quandaries of this type of research. Our recommendation emphasizes a community-centred approach, in which the desires of the community regarding research approach and methodology, community involvement, results communication and distribution, and data sharing are held in the highest regard by the researchers. We argue that such considerations are central to scientific rigour and the foundation of the study of human behaviour.

Infant‐directed speech (IDS) is phonetically distinct from adult‐directed speech (ADS): It is typically considered to have special prosody—like higher pitch and slower speaking rates—as well as unique speech sound properties, for example, more breathy, hyperarticulated, and/or variable consonant and vowel articulation. These phonetic features are widely observed in the IDS of caregivers from urbanized contexts who speak a handful of very well‐researched languages. Yet studies with more diverse socio‐cultural and linguistic samples show that this "typical" IDS prosody is not consistently observed across cultures. We extended cross‐cultural work by examining IDS speech segment articulation, which—like prosody—is also thought to be a characteristic phonetic feature of IDS that might aid speech and language development. Here we asked whether IDS vowels have different articulatory features compared to ADS vowels in two distinct linguistic and socio‐cultural contexts: urban English‐speaking Canadian mothers, and rural Lenakel‐ and Southwest Tanna‐speaking ni‐Vanuatu mothers (n = 57, 20–46 years of age). Replicating prior work, Canadian mothers had more variable vowels in IDS compared to ADS, but also did not show clear register differences for breathiness or hyperarticulation. Vowels spoken by ni‐Vanuatu mothers showed very distinct articulatory tendencies, using less variable (and less breathy) IDS vowels. Along with other work showing diversity in IDS phonetics across populations, this paper suggests that any understanding of how IDS might aid speech and language development are best examined through a culturally‐ and linguistically‐specific lens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]