Studying Knowledge, Culture, and Behavior in Applied Medical Anthropology

In this article we argue that the concept of knowledge, as utilized by public health professionals, is best regarded as cultural belief, as defined in anthropology. The implications of this position are explored, particularly as it relates to the development of a decision-making approach to the unde...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Medical anthropology quarterly 1997-06, Vol.11 (2), p.147-163
Main Authors: Pelto, Pertti J., Pelto, Gretel H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology, Cultural - methods
Applied anthropology
Attitude to Health - ethnology
Breathing
Communities
Cultural anthropology
Cultural studies
Culture
Decision Making
Diseases
Ethnography
Ethnology - methods
Gambia
Health
Health Behavior
Health Behavior - ethnology
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Knowledge
Medical anthropology
Medical personnel
Models, Psychological
Research Design
Social Anthropology
Social behaviour
Social Science Research
Symptoms
Terminology
Traditional Medicine
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Summary:In this article we argue that the concept of knowledge, as utilized by public health professionals, is best regarded as cultural belief, as defined in anthropology. The implications of this position are explored, particularly as it relates to the development of a decision-making approach to the understanding and analysis of health care behavior. The methodological challenges posed by the new theoretical perspective that has emerged from the emphasis on decision making is discussed from the perspective of applied research. The role of focused ethnographic studies is examined and contrasted with ethnomedicine and survey approaches. Some main features of focused ethnographic methods are described and illustrated with a case example of acute respiratory infection (ARI) in Gambia.
ISSN:0745-5194
1548-1387
DOI:10.1525/maq.1997.11.2.147