Rapid Ethnographic Assessments: A Practical Approach and Toolkit for Collaborative Community Research

Please see the website of author Thurka Sangaramoorthy for extra resources and material related to this book, at thurkasangaramoorthy.com. Click on the book’s cover and be sure to check back for updated content

This book provides provides a practical guide to understanding and conducting rapid ethnographic assessments (REAs) with an emphasis on their use in public health contexts. This team-based, multi-method, relatively low-cost approach results in rich understandings of social, economic, and policy factors that contribute to the root causes of an emerging situation and provides rapid, practical feedback to policy makers and programs.

Using real-world examples and case studies of completed REAs, Sangaramoorthy and Kroeger provide readers with a logical, easy-to-follow introduction into key concepts, principles, and methods of REAs, including interview and observation techniques, triangulation, field notes and debriefing, theoretical saturation, and qualitative analysis. They also provide a practical guide for planning and implementing REAs and suggestions for transforming findings into written reports and actionable recommendations. Materials and detailed tools regarding the conduct of REAs are designed to help readers apply this method to their own research regardless of topic or discipline. REA is an applied approach that can facilitate collaborative work with communities and become a catalyst for action.

Rapid Ethnographic Assessment will appeal to professionals and researchers interested in using REAs for research efficiency and productivity as well as action-oriented and translational research in a variety of fields and contexts.

Thurka Sangaramoorthy is a cultural and medical anthropologist and public health researcher with 22 years of expertise in conducting applied ethnographic research, including rapid assessments, among vulnerable populations in the United States, Africa, and Latin America/Caribbean. Her expertise includes global health and migration, HIV/STI, health systems, and environmental risk.

Karen Kroeger is a cultural and medical anthropologist who has conducted ethnographic research, assessment and evaluation among populations vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in the US and abroad since 1994. She is a former Research Anthropologist at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).