By Susan Green
Although the seaside city of San Pedro de Marcoris, The Dominican Republic, has all of the attributes of a tropical island paradise, the fourteen students who traveled there during Spring Break did not spend the week relaxing and soaking up the sun.
Their purpose was more serious.
Accompanied by David Lucas, assistant professor of communication at Ohio University Southern Campus, the students were in San Pedro to help the doctors of the Good Shepard Medical Center gather information on community healthcare issues.
To ease their transition into the marginalized neighborhoods in the Barrio Las Flores of the city, the Ohio University students were matched with Dominican students, who helped them communicate with the local population and acted as cultural guides.
| About Folknography Folknography is a new and innovative method of qualitative research appropriate for understanding the 'subjective perspective' of a particular 'folk.' The term 'folk' literally means a particular population (or specific ethnic group) and the term 'nography' represents a reference to 'ethnographic methods,' or methods of cultural description, whereby researchers are placed in the midst of a specific 'folk,' and from this vantage point attempt to describe social reality. Folknographers learn to search for the 'voice of the people,' listening carefully for 'emergent themes' and 'collective interpretations' of a particular 'folk.' Researchers are encouraged to interpret the social world from the unique perspective of the 'folk' under investigation using methods designed to gain an 'empathetic understanding' of their attitudes, their beliefs, their values, their views, their rituals, and their mode of interactive communication. |
Armed with questionnaires produced by Michael Dohn, one of the medical doctors at the clinic, the students used a research method developed by Lucas called folknography, which employs listening to the stories of a particular population, to gather information. This project focused on collecting information about diarrhea and respiratory infections in children five years-of-age and under and to determine the actual HIV/AIDS rate in the community.Talking openly about HIV/AIDS isn't common; therefore, one of the questions they asked was "Do you know anyone infected with HIV/AIDS?" Dohn hoped that by simply talking about it the students would help normalize the attitudes related to discussing HIV/AIDS. Some healthcare workers believe the infection rate is much higher than recorded statistics, but secrecy makes it difficult to determine how many people need to be treated and what are the best treatment options the clinic can offer to serve the population.
According to Lucas, the value of this kind of hands on research for undergraduates is that they get a clear picture of how the research process works, they gain valuable insights into cross-cultural communication and exchange, they make true contributions to the learning community and they discover truths about their own abilities, talents, skills and education.
"We weave everyone's stories together to present a snapshot of a community," he said.
The project, a collaboration of the South American Missionary Society, Ohio University Southern Campus, the Good Shepherd Medical Center and the La Iglesia Episcopal Dominicana will provide guidance regarding current public health problems and public health and community medicine programs.
This project consists of two years of planning and one full quarter of preparation. This trip to the Dominican Republic was somewhat unique because the research team not only used the qualitative technique of Folknography, but also used the quantitative technique of the demographic survey. One of the primary goals the team wanted to accomplish was to establish enough of a sample to generate a solid baseline for future study.
In addition to gaining real research experience, these students from Ohio University Southern Campus came back changed.
"When I first decided to take this trip, I had no idea what feelings it would awaken inside of me. As I saw the reality of these lost people I was shaken to the core," Beverly Stringer said in a journal entry. "But as I looked closer I started to see more. I saw their warmness. I saw their politeness. I saw their bonding. I saw their happiness. It made me realize that I needed to look more deeply into the hearts of people rather than the physical side."
Stringer added, "This is not to diminish the plight with the impoverished physical surroundings of the Dominican people. It is only to point out they do have some special gifts that are not materialistic."
The student researcher concluded, "As I prepare to leave and head back home, I can't help but hope the work that I have done here will help play a part in their lives. I hope that I will always hear their music and language. I hope I remember the look in their eyes forever. It has taught me to take a closer look. And, truly, I have heard the voice of the people."
For more information about the project, visit www.southern.ohiou.edu/folknography/.
Susan Green is a writer with University Communications and Marketing.
