Final answer:
Medical anthropology uses various research methods, including participant observation, ethnographic interviews, illness narrative interviews, and health decision-making analysis, to study the interaction between culture and biology in shaping medicine and health practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
Medical anthropology utilizes various research methods to study the ways in which culture and biology interact to shape medicine and health practices. Some of the common research methods used in medical anthropology include:
- Participant observation: In this method, an anthropologist immerses themselves in the culture they are studying, observing and documenting medical practices and beliefs.
- Ethnographic interviews: Anthropologists ask questions to cultural informants to understand their perspectives and experiences regarding their culture's medical practices.
- Illness narrative interviews: These interviews involve individuals who have been ill describing their experience of being sick and how they were treated by others.
- Health decision-making analysis: This method involves examining the choices people make when seeking medical treatment to understand the factors influencing their decisions.
Quantitative methods, such as medical statistics, questionnaires, and surveys, are also used by medical anthropologists to gather data on health-related topics.