Clarence C. Gravlee

This week the Society for Applied Anthropology is holding its annual meeting in Santa Fe, NM. Amber Wutich and I are offering a one-day workshop on Text Analysis: Systematic Methods for Analyzing Qualitative Data. Here you can view a short overview video and download data we’ll be using in the workshop.

• Overview video
• Workshop data sets

Reading List

Update, 8/15/09: Better late than never, here are the readings we recommended at the workshop back in March. Due to copyright, PDFs are password-protected for workshop participants only.

Crabtree, B. F., & Miller, W. L. (1992). A template approach to text analysis: developing and using codebooks. In B. F. Crabtree & W. L. Miller (Eds.), Doing Qualitative Research (pp. 93-109). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Hirschman, E. C. (1987). People as products: analysis of a complex marketing exchange. Journal of Marketing, 51, 98-108.

Kearney, M. H., Murphy, S., Irwin, K., & Rosenbaum, M. (1995). Salvaging self: a grounded theory of pregnancy on crack cocaine. Nursing Research, 44(4), 208-213.

MacQueen, K. M., McLellan, E., Kay, K., & Milstein, B. (1998). Codebook development for team-based qualitative analysis. Cultural Anthropology Methods, 10(2), 31-36.

Nolan, J. M., & Ryan, G. W. (2000). Fear and loathing at the cineplex: gender differences in descriptions and perceptions of slasher films. Sex Roles, 42(1/2), 39-56.

Quinn, N. (1982). "Commitment" in American marriage: a cultural analysis. American Ethnologist, 9(4), 775-798.

Ryan, G., & Bernard, H. R. (2000). Data management and analysis methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd ed., pp. 769-802). Walnut Creek: Sage.

Ryan, G., & Bernard, H. R. (2003). Techniques to identify themes. Field Methods, 15(1), 85-109.

Ryan, G. W., & Weisner, T. (1998). Content analysis of words in brief descriptions: How fathers and mothers describe their children. In V. C. de Munck & E. J. Sobo (Eds.), Using methods in the field: A practical introduction and casebook (pp. 57-68). Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.

We had a great breakout session at the Day of Dialogue on Minority Health at Bethel AME this weekend and will continue our work at the next HEAT meeting on Tuesday, February 24. The meeting will take place 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, Conference Room A. We will continue planning for a community forum on health equity and discuss a new funding opportunity to increase community participation in HEAT.

Tomorrow, February 21, Bethel A.M.E. Church in Tallahassee will be hosting the third annual Day of Dialogue on Minority Health. This year’s theme is “Developing a Viable Church Health Ministry.” Miaisha Mitchell of the Greater Frenchtown Revitalization Council and I will be representing the Health Equity Alliance of Tallahassee (HEAT) in a breakout session titled “Turn Up the HEAT: Setting Priorities for Action” (download the agenda here). Our goal is to broaden participation in HEAT and to stimulate discussion about priorities for research and action to address health issues that matter to people in the community.

We are grateful to Elsie Crowell, Planning Committee Chairperson, and to Penny Ralston, Chairperson of the Bethel A.M.E. Church Health Ministry, for the opportunity to participate in this event.

There is growing interest in global health across campus at the University of Florida. One sign of that interest is the inaugural Seminars in Global Health, which was funded by a grant from the International Center this fall. Unfortunately, the fall series has already wrapped up, but hopefully it is the start of more cross-disciplinary teaching and collaboration on global health.

Another step in that direction is a new proposed graduate course on Health in Latin America and the Caribbean, offered by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Health Sciences Center. The initiative is being led by Dr. Jorge Hernandez, Professor of Epidemiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Coordinator of the Seminars in Global Health. Details for the course haven’t been worked out yet, but the current proposal is to organize the course around an interdisciplinary journal club and the Bacardi Lecture Series, sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies. There would be five instructors from across campus, including me. We are currently planning the course for Fall 2009. Stay tuned for details.

The third lecture in the History of Medicine Lecture series will take place today, November 13, from 12:00 – 12:50 p.m. in room C1-15 in the College of Medicine. Nina Stoyan-Rosenzweig will discuss the history of Native Americans in medicine, in celebration of Native American History Month. Lunch will be served.

This Friday, Sept. 12, the Behavioral and Social Science Working Group at CDC will host a lecture by Noreen M. Clark, PhD, Director of the Center for Managing Chronic Disease at the University of Michigan. The lecture, “Social Movements and the Public’s Health,” will be available as streaming video on the web from CDC.

Here’s the abstract of the talk:

Significant changes in the health and well being of Americans have resulted from large scale shifts in people’s behavior and transformations of the social environments that influence their behavior. Such sweeping social changes have both improved the public’s health and also created greater threat and vulnerability, which raises questions about what public health workers and other citizens can actually do to shape and foster movements that will better protect the public’s health? In the movement for tobacco control, for instance, a series of events and initiatives led over time to healthier behavior and more supportive social conditions for millions. Thousands of changes affecting the price, accessibility, and attractiveness of cigarettes translated into a profound decline in smoking. Many of the precipitating events were catalyzed by public health professionals–but the overall force of the movement sprang from the contributions of non-professionals as well (e.g., non-smokers demanding clean air in their homes, neighborhoods, and workplaces).

The past is often prologue. What future health improvements can be expected from changes that are primarily social, economic and behavioral? Attention to American’s physical activity and eating habits may comprise an example of a burgeoning health-enhancing social movement. What is the strength of a social movement toward improved food and fitness? What is the role of the public health workers in such social transformation? How do health professionals traverse the shifting terrain and make their most valuable contribution to positive change?

Log on Friday, Sept. 12, 1:30 – 4:30 p.m. to view this lecture.