This post aims to evaluate the article by Greenhalgh, T., Clinch, M., Afsar, N., Choudhury Y., Sudra, R., Campbell-Richards, D., Claydon, A., Hitman, G.A., Hanson, P., Finer, S titled “Socio-cultural influences on the behavior of South Asian women with diabetes in pregnancy: a qualitative study using a multi-level theoretical approach”. The article has an easily identifiable purpose statement, starting with the signaling words “we sought to understand” (Greenhalgh, et al). The purpose statement does not identify the research approach, however, that would have been redundant since the approach is stated in the title as qualitative. The intent of the study is clearly specified and consists in analyzing the impact of different factors on the behavior of pregnant mothers. The purpose statement does not name the research site but identifies the participants – South Asian mothers and their unborn children.
The qualitative method of the research is focused on a single identified problem of how behavior affects metabolic health. Authors use the action verb analyze to convey how the study will take place. In the purpose statement neutral and non-directional langued is used to explain that researchers would analyze the data sample and draw conclusions based on sociological and narrative theories. It is necessary to mention that the definition of the central phenomenon is not provided in the purpose statement.
The purpose statement names the behavior of pregnant women with diabetes as the material for research on the issue of women forgoing the behavioral advice of medical professionals due to cultural aspects. The authors are using an appropriate multi-dimensional theoretical framework, that takes into account not only biological and ecological but also cultural and social variables (Greenhalgh, et al). This ensured the needed alignment of the purpose, the problem, and the theoretical framework of the study.
The provided research shows how women who changed their social status by moving to high-income countries still carry their previous social paradigm, which leads to undesirable health outcomes. It can be concluded that this research is valuable in providing a scientific basis for the culture-sensitive approach to managing and preventing diabetes in pregnant women (Greenhalgh, et al). The paper demonstrates how traditional views on femininity and pregnancy have a negative effect on the health of women, thus providing the reader with data refuting social preconceptions.
Reference
Greenhalgh, T., Clinch, M., Afsar, N., Choudhury Y., Sudra, R., Campbell-Richards, D., Claydon, A., Hitman, G.A., Hanson, P., Finer, S. (2015) Socio-cultural influences on the behavior of South Asian women with diabetes in pregnancy: qualitative study using a multi-level theoretical approach. BMC Med, 13(05), 120-135. Web.