Limitations of quantitative research in the study of structural adjustment

Sociologists and, more recently, critical medical anthropologists have been arguing for a refocusing of the analysis of health and health care towards a perspective which considers the broader global political economy. In the context of the debt crisis and IMF/World Bank-inspired structural adjustme...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social science & medicine (1982) 1996-02, Vol.42 (3), p.313-324
Main Author: Lundy, Patricia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Delivery of Health Care - economics
Developing countries
Developing Countries - economics
Economic conditions
Economic stabilization
External debt
External debts
Health care
Health conditions
Health Services - economics
health underdevelopment
Humans
International Agencies
Jamaica
Jamaica health underdevelopment structural adjustment quantitative qualitative methods
Medical economics
Medical service
Political economy
Politics
Public health
qualitative methods
quantitative
Social aspects
Social Medicine
Structural adjustment
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Summary:Sociologists and, more recently, critical medical anthropologists have been arguing for a refocusing of the analysis of health and health care towards a perspective which considers the broader global political economy. In the context of the debt crisis and IMF/World Bank-inspired structural adjustment policies, the political economy theoretical perspective is becoming even more relevant in the analysis of health underdevelopment in many ‘Third World’ countries. This study focuses on the direct and indirect effects of the Jamaican debt crisis and structural adjustment programmes on health care services and health standards. In this paper it is argued that there are methodological problems using quantitative data when studying the effects of structural adjustment. In addition to providing a limited account of the effects, it is argued that the basic problem is a matter of the availability and reliability of the quantitative data in many ‘Third World’ countries. It is argued that some of these problems could be overcome by the application of qualitative micro-level analysis. This type of methodology is important to ascertain the effects of global processes at the grass roots level and to gain insights into what those working in the health sector are experiencing and what they perceive as the effects, if any, of structural adjustment policies. This has often been missing from the impersonal accounts offered by quantitative research on the subject to date.
ISSN:0277-9536
1873-5347
DOI:10.1016/0277-9536(95)00153-0