Research Methods in Nutritional AnthropologyThis is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
Research Methods in Nutritional AnthropologyEdited by Gretel H. Pelto, Pertti J. Pelto, and Ellen Messer
© The United Nations University, 1989
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the United Nations University.
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Acknowledgement
Foreword
Introduction: Methodological directions in
nutritional anthropology
1. Methods for determinants of food intake
Introduction
Overview of factors in human food selection
Economic and ecological factors affecting food choice
Sensory characteristics affecting food selection
Perception of physiological effects and food classification
Cultural symbolic dimension
The socio-cultural construction of diets
Summary and conclusions
References
Appendix 1. Obesity and cultural weight valuations (A variation on the method suggested by Massara, 1980)
Appendix 2. Dietary decision-making: formal models and ethnographic Qualifications
Appendix 3. Bitter or astringent taste standards
Appendix 4. A field test for estimating sweetness preferences to improve estimates of sucrose intakes in individuals
Appendix 5. Methods for describing staple food classifications
Appendix 6. Symbolic, folkloric, and medicinal factors
Appendix 7. Gender factors
2. Strategies of field research in nutritional anthropology
Introduction
Experimental and naturalistic field research
Prediction, cause, and causality
Selection of research communities
Collaboration with community people
Sample size and population definition
The household as a primary research unit
The structure of variables: categories versus variations
Quantitative and qualitative data and the EMIC/ETIC issue
Conclusions
References
3. Methodological procedures for analysing energy expenditure
Introduction
Survey of habitual activities
Determination of critical activities
Determination of key participants
Measuring energy expenditure rates
Time-motion analysis
Estimation of energy expenditure rates from time-allocation data
Assessment of endurance capacity
Summary
References
Introduction
Methods of data collectionProcessing and interpreting data
Procedures for collecting and analysing time-activity data efficiently and effectively
Conclusions
References
Appendix 1. Messer, mitla field notes, 4 September 1980
5. Cultural patterning and group-shared rules in the study of food intake
Introduction
Methods for studying cultural rules for food use
Research techniques
Social units
Food choices: a process of many phases
Levels and units of analysis
A comprehensive interview approach to food patterning
6. Elementary mathematical models and statistical methods for nutritional anthropology
Introduction
Prediction models
Preference relations
Decision-making models and optimization analysis
Input-output analysis
Stochastic process models
Conclusion
References
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