Training materials and methods for cultural epidemiology

• Research unit: TPH
• Project number: 7.02

Key words (English)

Cultural epidemiology, gender, medical anthropology, health social science, research me-thods, qualitative research, tuberculosis control, stigma

Short description (English)

Health social sciences require methods capable of demonstrating key social and cultural features of health problems and their community contexts. This project is developing innovative methods of cultural epidemiology to guide public health interventions and clinical practice.

Project aims (English)

Produce a training manual, and multimedia CD and/or Web-based training materials for training clinical and public health students and researchers in the concepts and methods of cultural epidemiology.

Abstract (English)

Cultural epidemiology is rooted in principles and methods of basic epidemiology and medical anthropology. Based on experience in previous workshops, training materials will be developed to achieve the the following skills and competencies:

1. Concept of cultural epidemiology

2. Relationship between ethnographic and epidemiological strategies and methods

3. Framework for locally valid semi-structured interviews (EMIC)

4. Use of Epi Info for quantitative analysis

5. Use of WinMax for qualitative analysis

6. Relating quantitative and qualitative data

Publications / Results (English)

1. Weiss MG. Cultural epidemiology: an introduction and overview. Anthropology and Medicine 2001; 8(1):5-29.
2. Weiss MG, Somma D, Obrist B. Training Manual for Cultural Epidemiology: Examples from a Study of Tuberculosis and Gender. Swiss Tropical Institute, 2007.