PubMed · 6917637
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V Evaneshko, M A Kay. 1982. The ethnoscience research technique.. https://doi.org/10.1177/019394598200400105
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Intervention research takes place in field settings and requires understanding of social meanings and social processes. These are tasks for which qualitative research methods are well suited. The purpose of this paper is to provide a starting point for those who would like to learn more about the qualitative research methods used in disciplines where the study of social phenomena in naturalistic settings is common-particularly sociology, cultural anthropology, and human services program evaluation. The paper discusses some ways that qualitative and quantitative methodologies can usefully work together, outlines four key differences in the initial premises of quantitative and qualitative research approaches, briefly reviews some methodological techniques useful in gathering and analyzing qualitative data, and provides suggestions for further reading on various aspects of qualitative research.
The study analyzes the traditional beliefs and practices concerning leprosy of the Limba people of Sierra Leone. It shows that this dialectally diverse ethnic group has two views of leprosy and its cause, and two varieties of stigma associated with the disease. The Limba have abandoned their traditional treatments for leprosy in response to an effective leprosy control programme, but retained their traditional world view, including its definition of illness, which holds a person seriously ill only when he has severe pain or disability. Thus, they seek treatment from the programme, but often at a relatively advanced stage of the disease. The study shows that the Limba have reinterpreted the notion of 'germs' as introduced by medical workers, and that leprosy control workers have their own misunderstandings of Limba beliefs and practices. The study points the way to improved communication between leprosy workers and Limba patients by focusing on the points at which their views differ, and by identifying concepts within Limba world view that can be adapted by leprosy workers to help convey their message. The study emphasizes the importance of world view as a key to understanding patient attitudes and behaviour in developing countries, and to making valid cross-cultural comparisons, but notes that it can take years for an investigator to understand the world view of a particular culture. It argues that in short-term research projects there is an advantage to working with an anthropologist who has in-depth knowledge of the culture, but who may not be a specialist in medical anthropology.