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Ethnography and PRA among Gambian traditional birth attendants: a methods discussion

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK,stella.nyanzi{at}lshtm.ac.uk

Ousman Bah

Medical Research Council Laboratories, The Gambia, ousbah24{at}yahoo.com,unclesaul83{at}hotmail.com

Sulayman Joof

Medical Research Council Laboratories, The Gambia, ousbah24{at}yahoo.com,unclesaul83{at}hotmail.com

Gijs Walraven

Secretariat de Son Altesse l’Aga Khan, France, gijs.walraven{at}aiglemont.org

Ethnographers are often sceptical of employing Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) tools in their research, calling them `a quick and dirty' approach. However, ethnography has limitations as a research method. We therefore combined the two methods to enhance their strengths. Based on fieldwork in rural Gambia, this article discusses the procedure, merits and shortcomings of triangulating PRA and conventional ethnography methods to conduct research among an illiterate study population of traditional birth attendants. When tailored to suit the target study population, some PRA tools do enhance the emic perspective — thus empowering the study participants and making research results more context-relevant.

Key Words: birth attendants • ethnography • methodology • participatory rapid appraisal • triangulation

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