Without ethnography, cross-cultural comparison would not be possible. But without cross-cultural comparison, we would know nothing of what may be universal or variable across human cultures, or why variation exists. Cross-Cultural Research Methods is an introductory teaching tool that shows students and potential researchers how to describe, compare, and analyze patterns that occur in different cultures, that is, how to form and test anthropological, sociological, psychological, medical, or political hypotheses about cultural variation.

Without ethnography, cross-cultural comparison would not be possible. But without cross-cultural comparison, we would know nothing of what may be universal or variable across human cultures, or why variation exists. Cross-Cultural Research Methods is an introductory teaching tool that shows students and potential researchers how to describe, compare, and analyze patterns that occur in different cultures, that is, how to form and test anthropological, sociological, psychological, medical, or political hypotheses about cultural variation.

This single volume supplement to the 10-volume "Encyclopedia of World Cultures covers 65 cultures not included in the original set and provides updates to cultures that have changed significantly during the past 10 to 15 years.

Medical practitioners and the ordinary citizen are becoming more aware that we need to understand cultural variation in medical belief and practice. The more we know how health and disease are managed in different cultures, the more we can recognize what is "culture bound" in our own medical belief and practice.

The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology is unique because it is the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. No other single reference work comes close to marching the depth and breadth of information on the varying cultural background of health and illness around the world. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world.