Use of Rapid Ethnographic Methodology to Develop a Village-Level Rapid Assessment Tool predictive of HIV infection in rural India

Authors

  • Javier Mignone The University of Manitoba
  • G. M. Hiremath Karnataka Health Promotion Trust
  • Venkatesh Sabnis Karnataka Health Promotion Trust
  • J. Laxmi
  • Shiva Halli University of Manitoba
  • John O'Neil Simon Fraser University
  • B. M. Ramesh
  • James Blanchard
  • Stephen Moses

Abstract

In rural India, with hundreds of thousands of villages, a priority from a programmatic perspective is to efficiently determine which villages are at highest risk of HIV/AIDS transmission. The authors first report on the use of a rapid ethnographic approach in 10 rural villages of Karnataka, India, to develop a domains and indicators framework of village-level HIV/AIDS risk and a subsequent rapid assessment tool. They then analyze the rapid ethnographic approach and the rapid assessment tool to discuss differences and commonalities among rapid designs. They also discuss if these studies can be properly categorized as ethnographies, are mainly qualitative in nature, and are in essence participatory, and how appropriate they are to the public health field in general and the HIV/AIDS field in particular.

Author Biography

Javier Mignone, The University of Manitoba

Assistant Professor Department of Family Social Sciences Faculty of Human Ecology

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Published

2009-09-28

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Section

Articles