Investigating Reproductive Tract Infections and Other Gynaecological Disorders Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword by Paul F.A. Van Look
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction and overview
- 2 Defining reproductive tract infections and other gynaecological morbidities
- 3 The social context of gynaecological morbidity: correlates, consequences and health seeking behaviour
- 4 Reproductive health: men's roles and men's rights
- 5 Study design for the measurement of gynaecological morbidity
- 6 Alternatives to community-based study designs for research on women's gynaecological morbidity
- 7 Community interaction in studies of gynaecological morbidity: experiences in Egypt, India and Uganda
- 8 Definitions of clinically diagnosed gynaecological morbidity resulting from reproductive tract infection
- 9 Laboratory tests for the detection of reproductive tract infections
- 10 Laboratory methods for the diagnosis of reproductive tract infections and selected conditions in population-based studies
- 11 The value of the imperfect: the contribution of interview surveys to the study of gynaecological ill health
- 12 Qualitative methods in gynaecological morbidity research
- 13 Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in research on reproductive health
- 14 Interpreting results from different sources of data
- 15 Turning research into action
- Appendix A Notes on contributors
- Index
14 - Interpreting results from different sources of data
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 December 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Foreword by Paul F.A. Van Look
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction and overview
- 2 Defining reproductive tract infections and other gynaecological morbidities
- 3 The social context of gynaecological morbidity: correlates, consequences and health seeking behaviour
- 4 Reproductive health: men's roles and men's rights
- 5 Study design for the measurement of gynaecological morbidity
- 6 Alternatives to community-based study designs for research on women's gynaecological morbidity
- 7 Community interaction in studies of gynaecological morbidity: experiences in Egypt, India and Uganda
- 8 Definitions of clinically diagnosed gynaecological morbidity resulting from reproductive tract infection
- 9 Laboratory tests for the detection of reproductive tract infections
- 10 Laboratory methods for the diagnosis of reproductive tract infections and selected conditions in population-based studies
- 11 The value of the imperfect: the contribution of interview surveys to the study of gynaecological ill health
- 12 Qualitative methods in gynaecological morbidity research
- 13 Integrating qualitative and quantitative methods in research on reproductive health
- 14 Interpreting results from different sources of data
- 15 Turning research into action
- Appendix A Notes on contributors
- Index
Summary
Diseases and illnesses are matters of classification, and they change as social values about ‘normal’ aspects of age, fitness, and gender change. Yes we all are born and die, and in that sense, biology dominates, but how we use and experience our bodily potential in between those bookends is no more dictated by biology than is the style of our hats. Thinking about the consequences of assigning categories, I am reminded that language does not name reality, it organizes reality. Topics within areas of health, mental health, and sexuality have been subject to repeated renaming and redefinition as social values have changed.
Tiefer (1995).Introduction
This chapter is concerned with the interpretation of data from quantitative, community-based epidemiological studies. In many developing countries, where the coverage of health services is low and the quality of information from routine statistics variable, such studies are commonly the only way to establish population valid results concerning reproductive health. These studies also have an important role where service coverage and information quality is higher, as there are many questions that cannot be addressed using only health service data.
Morbidity data are gathered using instruments ranging from laboratory assays and tests to clinical examinations and questionnaires. Interpretation depends on the relationship between what is measured and what is required to be known. This relationship can be particularly intricate when responses to questions are used as indicators of disease states and related states.
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- Investigating Reproductive Tract Infections and Other Gynaecological DisordersA Multidisciplinary Research Approach, pp. 391 - 418Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003