FIELD METHODSNyamongo / INTRACULTURAL VARIABILITY Assessing Intracultural Variability Statistically Using Data on Malaria Perceptions in Gusii, Kenya

The author illustrates how qualitative data from open-ended interviews, pile sorts, and triad sorts can be used to test quantitatively for intracultural variation in norms. Specifically, the author testswhetherGusiimen andwomen in the SunekaDivision of Kisii District in southwest Kenya have developed a common set of standards in response to symptoms of malaria. In this small sample, the focus is on internal, rather than external, validity. While the findings about Gusii responses to malaria are not generalizable beyond the village where the data were collected, the method described may be used to study cultural similarities across socioeconomic, gender, and other groups. In this article, I illustrate the use of new analytic methods in content analysis. The range of analytic methods now available extends our ability to use free-flowing text as the input for systematic, statistical analysis. The addition of systematic, qualitative data, such as triad tests and pile sorts, also extends our capabilities. I illustrate this using data from my study of how Gusii-speaking men and women in Bomorenda village (in the Suneka Division of the Kisi