INTRACULTURAL VARIATION IN CAUSAL ACCOUNTS OF DIABETES - A COMPARISONOF 3 CANADIAN ANISHINAABE (OJIBWAY) COMMUNITIES

This paper presents a methodological approach for examining variation and consensus both within and between research settings and for addres sing issues of generalizability and replicability. The comparison is b ased on how individuals diagnosed with diabetes and living in three Ca nadian Anishinaabe (Ojibway) communities explain diabetes and talk abo ut their responses to the illness. Two kinds of interview format are u sed - an open-ended explanatory model type interview and a more struct ured, true-false, interview, amenable to analysis with cultural consen sus theory. The responses given in both interviews converge on a set o f explanations which can be found in all three communities, although d ifferences occur in how these explanations are framed and emphasized. Implications of these differences and how these accounts relate to how individuals respond to diabetes are discussed. It is argued that the analysis of both interview formats leads to a deeper and more finely n uanced representation of understandings about causes of diabetes acros s the three communities than could be achieved by using one alone.