Soc Sci Med. 1988 ; 27(1): 107-16.

Rapid ethnographic assessment: applications in a diarrhea management program.

Bentley ME, Pelto GH, Straus WL, Schumann DA, Adegbola C, de la Pena E, Oni GA, Brown KH, Huffman SL.

Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health and Hygiene, Baltimore, Maryland 21205.

This paper reports on a rapid ethnographic assessment methodology (REA) that was developed as an essential component of the dietary management of diarrhea (DMD) program. The DMD program is an interdisciplinary research project that has been developed to design intervention programs to reduce or eliminate the nutritional complications of diarrhea in Peru and Nigeria. Anthropological data gathering was an important component of the intervention design, but time and budgetary constraints required a rapid methodological approach. This paper outlines the REA methodology, describes the advantages and disadvantages of the approach, and discusses future applications for international primary health care interventions.