An Introduction to the Composition of the Multi-Site University Study of Identity and Culture (MUSIC): A Collaborative Approach to Research and Mentorship Robert S. Weisskirch California State University, Monterey Bay Byron L. Zamboanga Smith College Russell D. Ravert University of Missouri-Columbia Susan Krauss Whitbourne University of Massachusetts Amherst Irene J. K. Park University of Notre Dame Richard M. Lee University of Minnesota Seth J. Schwartz University of Miami The Multi-Site University Study of Identity and Culture (MU- SIC) is the product of a research collaboration among faculty members from 30 colleges and universities from across the United States. Using Katz and Martin’s (1997, p. 7) definition, the MU- SIC research collaboration is “the working together of researchers to achieve the common goals of producing new scientific knowl- edge.” The collaboration involved more than just coauthorship; it served “as a strategy to insert more energy, optimism, creativity and hope into the work of [researchers]” (Conoley & Conoley, 2010, p. 77). The philosophy underlying the MUSIC collaborative was intended to foster natural collaborations among researchers, to provide opportunities for scholarship and mentorship for early career and established researchers, and to support exploration of identity, cultural, and ethnic/racial research ideas by tapping the expertise and interests of the broad MUSIC network of collabora- tors. A guiding principle was that natural collaborations among researchers might emerge when researchers with similar interests are thinking about and using the same data. The goals of the research were to (a) focus data collection on issues of identity and culture; (b) target multiple, diverse locales across the United States; and (c) test innovative ideas related to identity and culture. Although the focus was on identity-related and cultural constructs, data were also collected on parental relationships, depression, anxiety, body image, externalizing symptoms, risky sexual behav- iors, substance use, posttraumatic stress disorder, sensation seek- ing, and personality. There was minimal funding (less than $1,000) underwriting the costs associated with administration, data collec- tion, analyses, and publication. Initial Research and Data Collection Several researchers (i.e., Schwartz, Zamboanga, Weisskirch, and Ravert) knew each other through professional conferences, having worked together previously, or from citing one another’s scholarship, and decided to collaborate on collecting data to ex- pand on the identity and cultural identity data that Schwartz had collected in South Florida in 2004 and 2005. Although the South Florida sample was diverse in comparison to most samples, it remained limited to the diversity in that area (i.e., Cubans, Nica- raguans, Colombians, Haitians, and Jamaicans). Beginning in 2006, the team decided to recruit additional collaborators to allow for greater geographic and ethnic diversity for the sample. In 2007, we also opted to collect the data online in order to create a common portal for administration, minimize time for transcription, and ease burden on the participants. The collaborators involved deemed this initial pilot project of data collection successful and, in 2008, decided to expand data collection to include greater geographic diversity, by targeting sites with potentially large eth- nic minority populations and including measures to reflect the collaborators’ research interests. MUSIC expanded in 2007 when the four original researchers (Schwartz, Zamboanga, Weisskirch, and Russert) recruited faculty researchers from several different sites and with interests in diver- sity and late adolescence or emerging adulthood. The 2007 sample included over 2,500 participants from nine university sites across the United States (one in Florida, one in Connecticut, three in California, one in Massachusetts, one in Texas, one in Missouri, Robert S. Weisskirch, Liberal Studies Department, California State University, Monterey Bay; Byron L. Zamboanga, Department of Psychol- ogy, Smith College; Russell D. Ravert, Department of Human Develop- ment and Family Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia; Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Am- herst; Irene J. K. Park, Department of Psychology, University of Notre Dame; Richard M. Lee, Department of Psychology, University of Minne- sota; Seth J. Schwartz, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Miami. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Robert S. Weisskirch, Liberal Studies Department, California State University, Mon- terey Bay, 100 Campus Center, Valley Hall, Suite C, Seaside, CA 93955. E-mail: rweisskirch@csumb.edu This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers. This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology © 2013 American Psychological Association 2013, Vol. 19, No. 2, 123–130 1099-9809/13/$12.00 DOI: 10.1037/a0030099 123