Russel-Research-Method-in-Anthropology

Qualitative Data Analysis II: Models and Matrices 531
Ryan and Martínez’s EDM: IF-THEN Charts
Gery Ryan and Homero Martínez (1996) built an EDM for how mothers in
San José, Mexico, treated children who have diarrhea. Ryan and Martínez
knew, from living in the village, that mothers there use seven different treatments
in treating their children’s diarrhea. Five of the treatments consist of
giving the child one or more of the following: (1) tea, (2) homemade rice
water, (3) medication from the pharmacy (their informants told them ‘‘If you
can say it, you can buy it’’), (4) a carbonated beverage, or (5) a commercially
produced oral rehydration solution. The other two treatments are: (6) manipulating
the child’s body (massaging the child’s body, pinching the child’s back)
or (7) taking the child to the doctor.
Ryan and Martínez asked 17 mothers in San José who had children under
age 5 what they did the last time their children had diarrhea. Then they went
systematically through the treatments, asking each mother why she had used
X instead of A, X instead of B, X instead of C, and so on down through the
list.
Mothers in San José listed the following factors for choosing one treatment
over another:
duration of the episode
perceived cause (from worms, from empacho, from food, etc.)
whether there was mucous in the stool
whether there was blood in the stool
whether the stools smelled bad
whether the stools were frequent or not
whether the stools were loose or not
whether the child had fever
color of the stool
whether the child had a dry mouth
whether the child had dry eyes
whether the child was vomiting
whether the child had swollen glands
Table 18.4 shows the data from the 17 women in Ryan and Martínez’s original
sample and the decision to take the child to the doctor. Read the table like
this: Mother 1 said that her child’s last episode of diarrhea lasted 2 days and
was caused by bad food. The stools contained mucous, but did not contain
blood. The stools smelled bad, were frequent and loose. The child had fever,
the stools were yellow. The child had dry mouth and dry eyes, but was not
vomiting and did not have swollen glands. In the end, Mother 1 did not take