Culture and Meaning in Health Services Research

Elisa J. Sobo is an associate professor of anthropology at San Diego State University and a clinical associate professor in the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. She also has ten years of full-time work experience in applied medial research settings, including five years at Children's Hospital San Diego. Sobo is author, co-author, or co-editor of nine books, including Using Methods in the Field: a Practical Introduction and Casebook (AltaMira Press) and Child Health Services Research: Applications, Innovations, and Insights (Jossey-Bass). She publishes extensively in major social science, healthcare, and medical journals.

'In this book, Sobo bridges the disciplinary divide between health and social science, demonstrating the distinct angle of thoughtful analysis that anthropological method and interpretative tradition bring to unraveling the complexities of health service systems. Recognizing that many holes within current evidentiary health knowledge pertain to interactions in which human agency plays a central role, she engages the reader in a delightful and opinionated dialogue that creatively deconstructs conventional assumptions and convincingly reveals what social theorizing contributes to understanding and solving the problems confronting health service researchers today.' Sally Thorne, Professor and Director, UBC School of Nursing

• I: The Value of Meaning; 1: The Journey Ahead: Aims and Means; 2: Why Focus on Stories?; II: The Lay of the Land; 3: Medical Anthropology: An Agenda; 4: Anthropology in and of Health Services; 5: Health Services: An Insider's Guide; 6: The Culture Concept, Cultural Competence, and the Dangers of “Anthro Lite”; III: Methodological Theory and Practice; 7: Doing Science—And Other Systematic Things; 8: Epistemology and Evidence: How Do We Know What We Know?; 9: The Realities of Research: Where and How to Begin; IV: Specific Methods; 10: Refocusing Focus Group Data Collection and Analysis; 11: Making the Most of One-Time Interviews; 12: Collecting Data as; 13: Making Rapid Improvements; V: Power Dynamics: The Politics of Research; 14: Institutional and Other; 15: Framing Our Message: Telling Stories, Making Action