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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Fieldwork and Adaptation of Procedures in a Hospital Setting |
Author: | Herselman, Stephne |
Year: | 1995 |
Periodical: | South African Journal of Ethnology |
Volume: | 18 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | March |
Pages: | 22-29 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | Xhosa hospitals anthropological research Health and Nutrition Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft |
Abstract: | All anthropological research settings have particular requirements that must be met by the researcher. No matter how thoroughly prepared for fieldwork, an anthropologist is more than likely to encounter unforeseen problems arising from the particular requirements of his or her chosen research setting. As a research setting, a hospital is no exception. In this article fieldwork procedures applied in a hospital as a research context are described and it is shown how a series of methodological difficulties inherent in a hospital setting can be dealt with meaningfully through the adaptation of research procedures. The author shows how a qualitative research project undertaken in a hospital can constitute a meaningful study. The fieldwork reported in the article was carried out among Xhosa-speaking patients in a provincial hospital in a rural town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa in 1987 and 1988. The aim of the study was to investigate the perceptions, behaviour and experiences of the patients and how these were influenced by diverse sociocultural factors. Bibliogr., sum. in Afrikaans and English. |