The application of anthropological methods in general practice research

I would like to discuss social anthropology and its relevance to qualitative research in general practice. Anthropology as a discipline was once rather generously called, in a BMJ editorial, most scientific of the humanities, and the most humane of the sciences. Unlike its sister discipline, sociology, it was developed among largely non-literate peoples at the time of Empire. Therefore, all the common sources of research data, completed questionnaires, written statements, analysis of printed material and psychometric tests were completely inapplicable. To deal with this situation, anthropologists developed a series of new research techniques. In a sense these were just the ordinary human skills of listening, observing, asking and exploring, but all elaborated in certain significant ways. The main technique was called 'ethnography', or 'participant-observation'. The anthropologist would live among a particular tribe or group of people for a lengthy period of time, usually 2 or 3 years, and would participate, as far as possible, in the tribe or group's daily lives, doing the things they did, eating the same food and taking part in the same ceremonies. The idea was not only to blend in with the local cultural landscape but also to understand it in a more holistic way by seeing the world through their eyes and experiencing it as they experienced it. In this way they could obtain what was called the 'actor's perspective'. For example, when studying a tribe in New Guinea, they would examine every aspect of its daily life, its behaviour, customs, rituals, religion, social organization, economy, diet, body image, marital patterns, relationships to the environment, symbolism, religion and myth. They also studied the complex relationships between beliefs and behaviours, between what people said they did, and what they actually did in real life. Anthropological research usually involved two stages. Firstly, ethnography was the very detailed and descriptive study of a specific group of people. In modern anthropology the 'tribes' that are studied might include a group of GPs in Durham, a clinic in London, a group of drug addicts in Piccadilly Circus, an ethnic group in Bradford, as well as tribesmen in the New Guinea